THINK LIKE A
CHAMPION
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THINK LIKE A
CHAMPION
An Informal Education
In Business and Life
DONALD J. TRUMP
with MEREDITH MCIVER
Copyright © 2009 by Donald J. Trump
Published by Vanguard Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the
United States of America. For information and inquiries, address
Vanguard Press, 387 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor, NYC, NY 10016,
or call (800) 343-4499.
Designed by Pauline Brown
Set in 12 point Bembo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Trump, Donald, 1946–
Think like a champion : an informal education in business and life
/ Donald J. Trump with Meredith McIver.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-59315-530-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Success in business. 2. Success. 3. Success in business—United
States. 4. Success—United States. I. McIver, Meredith. II. Title.
HF5386.T814772 2009
650.1—dc22
2008055919
Vanguard Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets
Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite
200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or
e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents,
Mary and Fred Trump
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CONTENTS
Foreword by Robert Kiyosaki
Acknowledgments
Introduction
xi
xiii
xv
Barack Obama Election Ushers in
a Different World
1
Essays, Assets, and Stephen King
3
Innovation
7
The Importance of Being a Team Player
11
An Early Thanksgiving
13
Learning Is a New Beginning
15
Learn to Think on Your Feet
19
Strive for Wholeness
23
Give Your Higher Self a Chance
27
Wisdom
31
The More You Learn, the More You
Realize What You Don’t Know
35
vii
CONTENTS
Think Like a Champion
39
I View My Work as an Art Form
43
Building Connected Thoughts
47
Confronting Your Fears
51
Imagination: A Key to Financial Savvy
55
Is Business Success a Natural Talent?
57
Keep It Short, Fast, and Direct
61
Have the Right Mindset for the Job
65
Momentum Is Something You Have
to Work at to Maintain
69
Learn from Setbacks and Mistakes
73
Tell People About Your Success
77
Prescience
81
The Shock Market
83
Financial Literacy
85
Destiny
89
Each Success Is the Beginning
of the Next One
93
There Are Times When You Should Move On
97
Keep the Big Picture in Mind
101
Get the Best People You Can
105
Winners See Problems as Just Another
Way to Prove Themselves
109
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CONTENTS
Scotland:You’re Hired!
113
Develop a Tempo When You’re Working
117
You Can Better Your Best at Any Time
121
They Thought I Was Doing So Well
123
It’s Not Personal—It’s Business
127
Think Like a Genius
131
Go Against the Tide
135
Think Positively
139
People Have Different Ways of Achieving Results
143
Discover and Live Your Purpose
147
Set the Standard
151
Go with Your Gut
155
Know Your Audience
157
The Good, the Bad, and the Rogue Wave
161
Building Your Reputation
169
“The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get”
173
How to Get Rich
177
Work with People You Like
181
In Addition to Business: What the
Successful Person Needs to Know
185
Donald J.Trump’s Recommended Reading
Index
ix
189
191
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FOREWORD
by Robert Kiyosaki
ne of the benefits of working with Donald is observing him
in action in real life. Over the years, I have gotten to know
the real Donald, as well as the “celebrity Donald.” I have found he
is the same person . . . In fact he is actually bigger in real life than
his celebrity.
Working with him, I have observed him thinking, then listened
to his thoughts become words and his thoughts and words become
actions. In most instances, his thoughts, words, and actions are the
same. Maybe this is why he is direct and blunt. He can be blunt because his thoughts, words, and actions are integrated, congruent,
operating as one.
Many of us know people who are, actually, three people.They
think one thing, say something else, and do not do what they say
or think. I have observed these kinds of people, who are really three
people, achieve limited success and live conflicted lives.
In early 1980, I lost my first major business. Losing everything
was as horrible as you might expect. Losing everything gave power
to the loser in me. Worst of all, I had lost confidence in myself. I
knew what I had to do, but for some reason I simply did not do
what I knew I had to do. My personal battle between 1980 and
1990 was to gain power over my own thoughts. To regain power
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FOREWORD
over my thoughts, I began reading and listening to great thoughts
from great people . . . and then made those thoughts mine. Slowly
but surely, my business life began to turn and I began to win again.
In 1987, just after the stock market crashed, I came across Donald’s book The Art of the Deal. My wife Kim and I put aside everything we were doing and read that book. As the world was
crashing down, we had the opportunity and benefit—through
Donald’s thoughts, words, and actions—to see the world of business. By 1994, Kim and I were financially free. In our quiet moments, Kim and I often discuss how Donald’s book inspired us to
go on, even though the world was crashing down around us.
In 1997, reading his book The Art of the Comeback verified for
us that we were following the thoughts of a great man.Very few
people will talk publicly, much less write, about their mistakes, their
lessons, and their comeback.
In 2004, Kim and I met Donald for the first time. Obviously
he did not know who we were, yet he was extremely gracious and
we thanked him for sharing his thoughts through his books.
In late 2006, Donald and I published our book, Why We
Want You To Be Rich: Two Men, One Message. Fueled by our shared
concern for people and our desire to teach, Donald and I collaborated on this book, predicting much of the financial chaos 2008
would bring.
It is an honor to write this Foreword for his book, Think Like
a Champion, because teaching me to think like a champion is
the gift Donald has given my wife and me . . . a gift he shares with
the world . . . a gift more valuable than money.
xii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
would like to thank my chief assistant, Rhona Graff, for her dedication and focus throughout the process of putting this book
together, and to my co-author Meredith McIver for her thoughtful work.
Working with the Vanguard Press team has been a great experience, and I’d especially like to thank Roger Cooper,Vice President and Publisher, Georgina Levitt, Associate Publisher, and
Amanda Ferber, Publishing Manager, for their enthusiasm and very
professional work.To Janet Saines of The Perseus Books Group, a
special thank you.
I
xiii
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INTRODUCTION
ver the years, I have watched many people aspire to success.
I am one of them, and while I haven’t peaked yet, I’ve had
a good share of success already. So I’m often asked what my “secrets” to success are. I don’t think they’re secrets, but every one of
us needs to have a formula that works for him or her personally.
This collection of writing is an indication of the thought
process that I believe can lead people to success. It has worked for
me. It’s another side to my personality—the more reflective side
that reveals my sources and how I apply them to the big picture
that is life. The persona you so often see via the world media is
someone who is outgoing, confident, sometimes brash—but honest. One reason people like me is because I’m blunt. One reason
people don’t like me is because I’m blunt. But one reason I’m successful is that I can cut through nonsense quickly and get to the
core of things.
Think Like a Champion is an example of that approach to life
and business. I take a topic, think about it, dissect it, and put it
back into a formula that becomes what I believe is solid advice.
I have always relished putting time and energy into digging below
the surface of a problem and coming up with a unique and effective answer.
While I was in school, my father, Fred C. Trump, would send
inspirational quotes to me every week. Many of them were about
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INTRODUCTION
leadership, how to be a champion in life. I learned a lot from them
and I still refer to them, so they are included here for you.
I was fortunate to have a mentor in my life like my father, and
I hope these writings will prove to be helpful to you. I would like
to dedicate this book to the memory of my father and all that he
taught me. I would hope that sharing these thoughts with you will
provide you with guidance as well as inspiration.
—Donald J.Trump
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CHAMPION
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The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
}
Barack Obama
Election Ushers in
a Different World
fter the election in November of 2008, I was interviewed by
Dominic Carter of New York 1, on his program called
“Inside City Hall.” New York 1 is an all-news program that is popular in New York City, and Dominic Carter is someone for whom
I have a great deal of respect. He should have a national show, but
then New York would miss out on his full-time and dynamic presence here. He describes me as “a man not known for keeping his
opinions to himself,” and we covered some interesting topics.
Dominic asked about the election and I was honest about it.
McCain was in an almost impossible situation. Bush had been so
incompetent that any Republican would have a hard time unless
they could bring back Eisenhower. Bush was a disaster for the
country as well as for the Republican Party.
Then he asked me about Barack Obama. I told him that
Barack will need to be a great president because we’re in serious
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DONALD J. TRUMP
trouble as a country. It hasn’t been this way since 1929. So he
doesn’t have much choice—he will simply have to be great, which
he has a very good chance of being.
What he has done is amazing. The fact that he accomplished
what he has—in one year and against great odds—is truly phenomenal. If someone had asked me if a black man or woman could
become president, I would have said yes, but not yet. Barack Obama
proved that determination combined with opportunity and intelligence can make things happen—and in an exceptional way.
He is not walking into an easy or enviable situation. As of October of 2008, the U.S. government reported a $237 billion deficit.
The good news is that Obama seems to be well aware of the situation. His comments have led me to believe that he understands
how the economy works on a comprehensive level. He has also
surrounded himself with very competent people, and that’s the
mark of a strong leader. I have confidence he will do his best, and
we have someone who is serious about resolving the problems we
have and will be facing in the future.To me that is very good news.
After 9/11, this country received a lot of compassion from
countries and people around the world.Within a short amount of
time, however, we were hated. How did that happen? We had no
dialogue with other countries because they just plain hated us.
What’s different today is that we have a new chance, a new beginning. The world is excited about Barack Obama and the new
United States. Let’s keep it that way.
2
Whatever games are played with us,
we must play no games with ourselves.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
}
Essays, Assets, and
Stephen King
n the New York Times Book Review of September 30, 2007, is an
essay by Stephen King on the short story. As you most likely
know, Stephen King is the prolific and very successful author of
sixty books and nearly 400 short stories. One of his short stories
won the O. Henry Prize in 1996. His point in his essay is that in
reviewing the state of the short story today, he notes that they
seem to “feel show-offy, and written for editors and teachers, rather
than for readers.”This is an insightful comment and it got me to
thinking about why we write and who we think our audience
might be.
I like essays and so I can relate to the short story, although the
short story is a fictional prose tale. The short story is not an easy
medium, as any writer will tell you, because you must be concise.
Essays are a bit the same, because they are succinct and specific. If
you read Stephen King’s essay, you will see that he gets his point
across beautifully in the span of one page.
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DONALD J. TRUMP
I may not be Stephen King, but I can appreciate what he does.
You may not be a mogul yet, but I think you can appreciate the
complexities of what I have to deal with daily. Stephen King is
pointing out that the market for short stories is limited these days,
so the writers of short stories seem more determined than ever to
make their mark—but on the editors who might be able to get
their story into print, not the reader, who might be expecting to
be entertained. A valid consideration, I will say. We all have target
markets and the demographics are important, no matter what your
industry may be.
In short, Stephen King is astutely acknowledging that the short
story writers of today are protecting their assets by targeting their
writing to the people who will most likely be able to get it into
print.Their second consideration is the reader because, unless they
consider the editor first, their reader will have no chance of ever
seeing the short story, no matter how wonderful or how mediocre
it might be. It’s an intelligent approach, but I can understand the
point Mr. King is making when he laments the fact that the stories seem prefabricated to appeal to a certain audience—editors
and teachers, in this case.
When I build a residential building, for example, I will first
consider who will be living there. I study the demographics, as
does any business person, whether you’re in advertising or residential property management. To get the message out, I will also
have to appeal to the people who will choose—or not choose—
to promote the building. By now, my name is big enough and
equated with the gold standard to the extent that I don’t have to
say too much about it. The name Trump is a guarantee of a certain level of quality. Stephen King mentions that short stories seem
to be delegated to the bottom shelf at the bookstores. He says the
American short story is alive but not well these days. The main
reason seems to be that the target market is simply dwindling.
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THINK LIKE A CHAMPION
I think that he does a spot-on analysis of the situation when
he notices that the stories seem to be written for publication purposes, not for the edification of the reader. I know that if I did
something that was intended to impress the so-called critics that
I would be selling not only myself short, but other people as well.
That’s one reason I’m liked as well as disliked. In fact, one critic
from the New York Times, Herbert Muschamp, mentioned that I do
better when I choose to ignore my critics than when I pay attention to them. I have to agree, and Stephen King might agree to
that as well when it comes to the fate of the short story.
Being true to yourself and your work is an asset. Remember
that assets are worth protecting. No one will ever tell you it will
be easy to stick to your own convictions, but I believe it is necessary. Otherwise, what are you doing and who are you doing it for?
Keep it straight and simple.You will be richer—in more ways than
one—in the long run.
5
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There is one thing stronger than all the armies of the world,
and that is an idea whose time has come.
—Victor Hugo
}
Innovation
eople often talk about something new being “innovative.”
Most of the time, it’s simply putting together existing elements
to create what appears to be new. I was touted as being innovative
when I came up with the mixed-use condominium and hotel
tower, which I did with the Trump International Hotel & Tower
in New York City. Since then, the concept has been copied (by
myself and others) and it has proven to be tremendously successful, nationally and internationally.
To me, the idea was common sense, and I didn’t think I was
being particularly creative. When I look back, maybe I was. But
when I read subsequent articles about innovation and certain inventors, it got me thinking about how one might become an
innovator, which is something I think is important for students to
think about.
I remember reading about a composer named Steve Reich
who came up with a new idea called phasing, which is like windshield wipers going in and out of synch. Apparently he was caught
in a traffic jam one rainy day and the rhythm of the windshield
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DONALD J. TRUMP
wipers caught his attention and he applied what he heard to his
musical compositions. He has had a significant influence on contemporary music, and I think he’s a great example as an innovator. Sometimes new ideas can come from something as mundane
and functional as your windshield wipers. The key is to pay attention and keep your brain and senses open to new stimuli.
It also helps to be thinking of two things at once—multilevel
focusing is what I call it. The intersecting of ideas is when innovation will follow—thinking in musical terms while listening to
your windshield wipers, or thinking of a hotel tower and condominiums at one time, or maybe watching a stone roll and imagining a wheel. Who knows what will result? Sometimes it will be
fantastic and other times it won’t, but it gets the mind working in
new dimensions that can sometimes prove fruitful.
This can also happen without deliberately attempting to be
innovative, so the other technique to employ—consciously and
unconsciously—is to keep an open mind.That’s very important in
business as well as in the creative arts. Don’t limit yourself to staid
thinking because you want to excel in business. My first book was
called The Art of the Deal because I view business deals as being an
art form. Maybe that’s why I’ve been a successful dealmaker. I employ both sides of my brain when I’m thinking and working.
You may be aware of the number phi (pronounced “fee”),
which has an astonishing history. It’s been employed by people
from Pythagoras to da Vinci, and most likely the builders of
the pyramids used it as well. It’s been around for a long time and the
number itself is 1.6180339887. It’s called the golden ratio, and if
you want to know more specifics, you can read The Golden Ratio
by Mario Livio, who goes into great detail about it. My point is
that it appears that some people use the number deliberately, and
other people know it subconsciously and it can appear in their
work with or without intention. But it can be used intentionally,
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THINK LIKE A CHAMPION
and very often is. It’s very mysterious, as this ratio appears in unrelated works and natural phenomena, from the chambered nautilus to galaxies to artwork and architecture. It can make your
innovative attempts a little easier when you make an effort to understand that there are mysteries in life and to be open to them.
I’m not advising you to dwell on the mysterious—a successful life requires common sense and hard work—but to be aware
of things that are sometimes inexplicable because they can be a
big step toward innovation. We don’t really create, but we assemble what has been created for us. Be a great assembler—no matter what your interests may be—and you’ll be on your way to
inventiveness. A big mind requires a variety of thoughts and impulses to keep it well occupied, so make sure you keep your mind
engaged in the best ways possible. It could very well be your calling card for success.
9
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Coming together is a beginning, keeping together
is progress, working together is success.
—Henry Ford
}
The Importance
of Being
a Team Player
have always known the importance of having the ability to be
a team player, even though I am an entrepreneur. In a big sense,
we’re all in this together, and thinking otherwise won’t give us the
results we might be aiming for. More than ever, working together
is integral to survival as well as to success.
As I was thinking of this, I remembered a couple of good examples of team players. Most of us know of Tom Brokaw, the television journalist and author. He has received many awards and is
highly esteemed within his industry as well as with the public. I
remember when The Apprentice first premiered and it was doing
very well—it was the number one rated show that week and I had
been invited to sit in George Steinbrenner’s box for a Yankees
game. Tom was there with his lovely wife, and he tapped me on
the shoulder and said, “Thanks, Donald, for what you’ve done for
NBC. We really appreciate it.”
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11
DONALD J. TRUMP
What he said was a perfect example of team spirit. We were
on the same network, and he cared about what I’d done for them.
“Them” became “us,” and I understood where he was coming
from immediately. He may be famous, but he knows his programs
aren’t just about him. My program isn’t just about me, either. In
fact, as you will discover as you gain wisdom over the years, most
of the things you do will rarely be just about you.Tom cared about
the network, and his team was being helped by the success of The
Apprentice. His comment gave me great insight into his integrity
as a person—and maybe that’s why everyone at NBC, as well as
the public, loves and respects him.
Likewise, while I was standing backstage in Los Angeles for the
Emmy Awards when The Apprentice had been nominated for an
award, Debra Messing, who had won acclaim and an Emmy Award
for her performance in Will and Grace, was standing nearby. I had
always liked Debra, maybe because her hair is so great, but she
came up to me and very graciously thanked me for the success of
The Apprentice. Once again I realized that here was another team
player of note—her show was also on NBC.
It’s been a few years, but I can clearly recall the day Jeff Zucker
came to my office to ask me if I’d host Saturday Night Live. One
reason I wanted to say yes to Jeff was that Saturday Night Live was
an NBC show and I was a part of their team. Team spirit was important, and I have to say it was a great choice. Everyone had a
good time, and everyone won.
My point is that keeping the team spirit alive and well in your
personal and professional lives will give you some very good, even
surprising, results. Plus, it’s a great feeling to take the high road.
Never negate the power of the team, and you’ll be a team player
of note as well as power.
12
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by
a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to
think with deep gratitude of those who have
lighted the flame within us.
—Albert Schweitzer
}
An Early
Thanksgiving
n the day before the Rosh Hashanah holiday each year for
the past eighteen years, I receive a message from a Rabbi in
Los Angeles. I am not Jewish, but have many observant Jews who
work for me, so I am well aware of the holiday schedule and that
Rosh Hashanah is their New Year, a time for celebration.
I find his message of thanks to be especially resonant because
he and his wife lost their son years ago, yet they call to remind
themselves (and me) of the many blessings they’ve had in life.The
reason the Rabbi calls me every year is a wonderful example of
the spirit of thanksgiving: Back in 1988, he and his wife had a
three-year-old son who had an illness that was confounding the
doctors in Los Angeles. One day the boy’s father called me to see
if they could borrow my jet. He didn’t know me, and I didn’t
know him. But he explained that no commercial airline would fly
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DONALD J. TRUMP
his son due to the extensive equipment required to sustain his life.
It was considered too big of a risk. I had small children at the time,
and I immediately said yes to his request. How could I say no?
I sent my jet out and brought the little boy and his parents to
New York with the hope that doctors here might find a cure for
the severe breathing illness from which he was suffering. His cure
was not to be, but his parents have remained grateful to this day. I
am always touched that they remember me.
In these recent days of upheaval in our country, I found the
Rabbi’s yearly message to be an insight into a good way to handle
difficult and even tragic times—to find a blessing in the midst of
adversity. This family and their faith is a wonderful example for all
of us, and I would like to thank them for their yearly reminder.We
should realize that we all have a lot to be thankful for, whether it’s
New Year’s, Thanksgiving, or just another Wednesday in our lives.
14
The beginning of every government starts
with the education of our youth.
—Pythagoras
}
Learning Is a
New Beginning
ythagoras interpreted the universe through numbers. As a businessman, that always appealed to me. It makes sense. He was
a philosopher and a mathematician, and he knew the importance
of learning. Pythagoras lived a long time ago, but a lot of things
have remained the same, like the significance of education for both
individuals and society.
Whenever I start something new, I know I have a lot to learn.
This does not discourage me—in fact it gives me energy. It is similar to the feeling of a new beginning, a fresh start.When I started
building golf courses, I had a tremendous amount to learn, but it
was fantastic to be doing something brand new and I loved learning the details of golf course design. If someone had told me thirty
years ago I’d be developing golf courses, I would have thought they
were joking. But it’s something I’ve truly enjoyed doing.
It’s important to remain open to new ideas and new information. Being a know-it-all is like shutting the door to great
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DONALD J. TRUMP
discoveries and opportunities. Keep your door open every day to
something new and energizing. Sometimes I wonder what will
show up, which is a terrific way to start every day. Other times I
might have to search a bit on my own, which is why books and
educational tools can be wonderful and should be readily available.
Maybe I’m just fortunate, but I’m never bored. In fact, I think that’s
a big reason behind my success.
Once in awhile—or often is even better—ask yourself this
question: What do I need to know more about? Maybe it’s world
history. With the events of today being what they are, it’s probably a good idea to know a little about how different cultures have
evolved and are operating. Maybe it’s something else. I make an effort to read newspapers with ample international coverage and the
Financial Times on a daily basis because it’s important to my business to know what’s going on worldwide. That alone can require
serious attention every day. For you it may be something else.
These days, we don’t have many excuses for having a blind
spot. We all have access to information with relatively little effort,
and, back to the ancient Greeks, Socrates is famed for having said,
“There is only one thing I know, and that is I know nothing.”
Pretty tough words coming from an esteemed scholar and philosopher, but it opened him up to more knowledge every day. In other
words, start every day with a clean slate. Give yourself a new beginning by opening up your mind.
If I’d started in business thinking I knew everything, I’d have
been sunk before I got started. Don’t make that mistake.There are
a lot of hidden aspects in every industry, and you will find out
how complex seemingly simple things can be. For example, to get
a building built in New York City requires knowledge of zoning, contractors, architects, air rights, tax laws, unions, and about
a thousand other things. I had a lot to learn and no one else could
learn it for me. But every day I would learn something, apply it,
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THINK LIKE A CHAMPION
and make progress. Believe me, being a developer didn’t happen
overnight.
Never think of learning as being a burden or studying as being
boring. It may require some discipline, but it can be an adventure.
It can also prepare you for a new beginning. Notice the first word
in my Think Big credo: Think. That’s the first step. Use everything in your power to utilize and develop that capability, and
you’ll be in for some great surprises.
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A leader has the right to be beaten,
but never the right to be surprised.
—Napoleon Bonaparte
}
Learn to Think
on Your Feet
’ve already spoken about complacency and how it can ruin your
chances for success. It’s the same as being in a rut and deciding
to stay there. That’s why I like to advise people to live on the
edge—it’s the opposite of complacency, and the same as thinking
on your feet.
Ever notice how your senses are heightened when you are in
challenging situations? It’s like having an adrenalin rush that gives
you extra energy. If you see every day as a challenge, you’d be surprised how efficient you can become and how much can be accomplished. People often say they “hit the street running,” which
is another way of saying they did their prep work and were ready.
One of the most obvious lessons on The Apprentice is for the
candidates to learn to think quickly. They are under a time constraint to finish their assignments, and as we’ve noticed, it’s important that they have a Plan B in line. If Plan A doesn’t work,
they’re prepared for it and they won’t lose much time. They are
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DONALD J. TRUMP
learning to think ahead, to be prepared, and to cover their bases.
These are basic ingredients for success in business.
When I started out in business, I spent a great deal of time researching every detail that might be pertinent to the deal I was interested in making, and I still do the same today. People often
comment on how quickly I operate, which is true. But the reason
I can move quickly is that I’ve done the background work first,
which often no one sees. Just because you don’t see someone
working doesn’t mean they haven’t been working in their spare or
private time. I prepare myself thoroughly, and then when it is time
to move ahead, I am ready to sprint.
Being able to think on your feet is the result of training and
discipline.You can’t sprint unless you have built up the strength to
do so. Building the stamina is up to you. If you don’t work at it,
it’s not going to happen by wishful thinking.You have to dedicate
yourself to it every day. In other words, set a goal and work toward
it. Athletes know that no one else can do the training for them,
and business people should have the same discipline. You have to
be self-reliant.
Have you ever said to yourself, “I wish I’d thought of that!”?
I’ve heard people say that when they come across something very
clever or something fantastic. One way to learn to think on your
feet is to ask yourself what you should be thinking of this very
moment. Do it right now, and then see other people saying, “I wish
I’d thought of that—what a great idea!” You’d be surprised how
many good ideas you might have if you’d give yourself the opportunity to think about them.Thinking takes time. It’s the preparation for being able to think on your feet. First things first: First
we walk, then we run, then we sprint.
Thoreau said, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the
unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” That is not only an encouraging statement, it is also an
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empowering one. It means you can accomplish a lot by applying
your brainpower and then moving forward with it.Thought without action won’t amount to much in the long run. Those great
ideas you have will remain great ideas unless you actively do something with them.
Don’t wait for dire circumstances to test your quick-thinking
ability. Test yourself daily. Be on alert at all times. As Napoleon said,
“A leader has the right to be beaten, but never the right to be surprised.” See yourself as a leader—starting right now. It will mean
you are self-reliant, responsible, and not apt to being unnecessarily surprised by the vicissitudes of life, whether you are in business
or not. Being prepared cannot be overestimated, and if you want
to hit the big time running, you’d better be able to think on those
feet of yours.
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He who can no longer pause to wonder
and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead;
his eyes are closed.
—Albert Einstein
}
Strive for Wholeness
ver hear the saying “Get the big picture”? It amazes me when
people can leave out or ignore big pieces in a picture or pretend nothing is missing. It’s like ordering a pizza and getting a pie
with a few slices already removed—and still thinking it’s a whole
pie. Wouldn’t you wonder where those pieces went?
I’ve encountered people who don’t wonder about anything.
Sometimes I wonder if they are in shock or something. Maybe
they’re just afraid to strive for the big picture or the whole pie, or
maybe they don’t think they’re worth the whole pie. Whatever it
is, don’t let yourself fall into any of those categories. Don’t ever
sell yourself short. That’s bad business on every level, even the
metaphysical.
If striving for wholeness means diminishing your competition,
then your competition wasn’t much to begin with. A lot of life is
about survival of the fittest and adaptation, as Darwin pointed out.
It’s not all there is, but it’s an indication of how the world has
evolved in historical terms. We’ve seen many empires come and
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go—the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and so forth. There
have always been surges of power. Sometimes they last for centuries. Even so, some of us have never heard of them as of today.
In other words, things change. We have to keep up with the
changes and move forward or we will be holding some moldy
pieces of the pie.
As The Trump Organization has moved forward, I have very
much seen it as a living organism that needs to be fed and replenished. It needs to be whole, which requires many sections fitting
together and working together tightly. It is a daily requirement on
my part to make sure all the ingredients are there and working together to make the best product possible. I can’t have any missing
pieces. I can’t have any ingredients that aren’t the best. Those are
my standards, and it’s my responsibility to make sure they are kept.
See yourself as an organization. Pay attention to every facet of
your life. What’s strong? What’s weak? What’s missing? What can
you do to make the big picture better? Whatever you do, don’t
stagnate. Don’t become complacent. Don’t pretend that 50 percent is enough, whether you’re giving or receiving. Things move
too quickly today to fall into that trap.
When I realized how fast the world moves, I decided to double up on my work hours.That wasn’t a big sacrifice because I love
what I’m doing and I’ve always been a hard worker. I’m happier
and more productive now than I ever was. But I kept the pace in
order to keep up with my environment, which is a fast one. New
York is known for being fast.You can adapt or lose out. I chose to
adapt. Make your choices accordingly. People who want to compete with me will have to keep up with me.
I had a dynamic, very well-qualified, very well-educated young
man come to work for me. I remember thinking, this guy is
going to be great.Was I ever wrong. He took so long to explain
anything that every time I saw him, I began to dread any kind of
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interaction with him. He was just too slow. He was thorough and
painstaking, but he couldn’t keep up with the required pace. He
couldn’t adapt to his environment, and despite his qualifications,
he was unable to get the big picture and figure out how to fit in.
It was a happy day for me when he departed. Don’t let that happen to you. Learn to adapt. Learn to keep learning.
Very few of us are completed projects. It’s an ongoing process.
Even being a prodigy, Mozart worked at what he did.We have to
assemble the bits and pieces constantly in order to achieve the
whole. But we have to assemble creatively and passionately to get
anywhere near the whole. It’s another way of covering your bases
for the most effective game. Strive for wholeness and keep your
sense of wonder intact, and you will find yourself ready for a
grand slam.
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An achievement is a bondage.
It obliges one to a higher achievement.
—Albert Camus
}
Give Your
Higher Self
a Chance
hen the achiever achieves, it’s not a plateau, it’s a beginning.
Achievers move forward at all times—they have anticipation for their next deal and have another goal immediately lined
up. It’s enthusiasm that can’t be fabricated—it’s either there, or it’s
not. Achievers go for the challenge, so the next deal is what they’re
thinking about. They have an obligation to themselves to best
themselves. That’s living in the highest realm.
Your higher self is in direct opposition to your comfort zone.
An indication of life is growth, and signs of growth have to be
there.You’ve heard people refer to a city as vibrant, and what that
means is that it’s growing and it’s lively—it is not stagnating. See
yourself as a city if you must, with all the inner and outer workings necessary to keep yourself thriving and efficient.
There are so many “fine lines” in life that when people say life
is an art, they’re not too far off. I’ve said before that I see my work
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as an art form, and that’s one reason why. We all know that fine
line between something great and something extraordinary. Sometimes it’s almost imperceptible, or impossible to define.What makes
da Vinci’s Mona Lisa so exceptional? There are millions of different answers, but it mesmerizes people. It’s mysterious and brings
us to another realm, a different dimension.
Our higher selves can serve to transport us to becoming visionaries. The word visionary evokes a lot of images and definitions, some even being a “castle-builder” or a Don Quixote. It
often connotes someone who is idealistic.There is nothing wrong
with that as long as it’s contained within reason.Visionaries move
the world along into new dimensions. Look at Bill Gates, for
example, in technology; or Mark Burnett in reality TV; or Pablo
Picasso, Stravinksy, and other greats of the twentieth century.They
were groundbreakers who followed their own instincts and led us
in new directions.
Our higher self will often lead us into new waters, and for a
good reason. No one wants to spend their life treading water just
to keep from going under.That is futile and disheartening. Sometimes we do things to build up experience and stamina to prepare
us, but it’s to prepare us for something bigger. Always know you
could be on the precipice of something great—that’s being connected to your higher self. It’s also a good way to keep those negative thoughts far away.
Sometimes our goals aren’t necessarily concrete. Sometimes
it’s a feeling of something great that will happen, and so we’re open
to it. That doesn’t mean we sit around waiting for something to
just happen—very often it happens while we’re working away on
something else. Being industrious can be a magnet for new ideas,
while idleness and inertia can be magnets for negativity.
One of the worst fears we can have is the fear to attempt something. That can leave you feeling bereft for no particular reason
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except that maybe you will have missed your purpose.There is always the possibility of failure, but there is a greater chance of success if you actually try to do something versus doing nothing. I
wasn’t sure I’d be a success on the radio, but I went for it and my
program on Clear Channel was a big hit. But I had to take the
chance first to find out.
Life can be an adventure of the best sort if you will give your
higher self a chance. We all have something unique to offer. Our
work is to find out what that is and to work at it with a passion.
So don’t tread water. Get out there and go for it.
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Experience is one thing
you can’t get for nothing.
—Oscar Wilde
}
Wisdom
remember reading a short book that was entirely based on the
question: What does wisdom mean to you? People from every
profession, every walk of life, and every possible background contributed their thoughts. All these people had been successful. The
answers were diverse, but I realized they tended to have a few common denominators: experience, integrity, and knowledge.
I was relatively young when I read this book, and in fact I can’t
remember the title of it. It was left on a table in the library at
school so I just happened upon it. I understood the emphasis on
knowledge, and could see the value of experience even though I
hadn’t had much yet, so what stood out the most to me was integrity. Very often it was combined with the value of reputation,
and I think that’s when my approach to a quality brand name was
in gestation.
My father had already established a strong brand name in the
outer boroughs of New York City as a developer, and people knew
his work would have an inherent quality to it.They wouldn’t have
to guess or feel they were taking a chance if it had the Trump
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name on it. That’s how he built his reputation. When I went into
business for myself, I made a point to establish a reputation that
bankers and other professionals would be comfortable with, and
I knew that eventually my integrity as a businessman would be
intact. People are more apt to want to work with you if they feel
they can trust you—an important consideration especially if one
wants financial backing for projects.
Whether you are a full- or part-time student now is a good
time to think about your future, whether it’s brand new or a new
beginning. Make certain things your guideposts. It’s a good sign
you’re reading this because that means you are serious about your
education and gaining knowledge.That’s something that was emphasized to me as a student, and I made a greater effort to learn
everything I could in order to gain wisdom.
What was pointed out—and what I fully realized later—is that
wisdom comes as a result of several factors: one being experience,
and one being knowledge. It’s something you can’t teach someone else—you have to achieve it on your own. It also has to do
with insight, which comes with experience as well.
I realize now when I can assess a situation quickly that it’s a
result of wisdom I’ve gained through a variety of experiences. It’s
a bit like being able to trust your instincts because you’ve had a
good record of successes. It’s very hard for me to just give you this
wisdom—you have to get there yourself. But these pointers were
helpful to me as a student, and they are worth thinking about.
Another way to gain wisdom is to read about the greats in history and those in your specific field of interest. I learned a great
deal by reading about Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, and
people who had been in pivotal places in world history.They had
to be very equipped to deal with what they were handed. Their
situations may have been a matter of fate, destiny, and timing, but
they had the experience and wisdom to deal effectively with their
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circumstances. Imagine having many thousands or even millions
of people affected by your actions and decisions, and you will have
an inkling of the immense responsibility these people had. It can
make our problems seem small in comparison, and it can enlarge
our minds in order to comprehend a bigger picture of duty and
competence.
I remember realizing back in school that two things in particular seemed to shape the world as I knew it then—war and nature. Nature is a powerful force and so is war. It changes the
landscape of countries and cultures, and nature can just plain
change the landscape. So I spent time studying wars and their impact on where we are today in civilization.That’s a big assignment
and I’m by no means an expert, but it is worth spending some time
to know how and why we are where we are today.
One book that I would suggest to you, because it is valuable
for business and managerial strategies, is The Art of War by Sun
Tzu. This was apparently written in the sixth century BC and is a
study of military strategy. It has been influential to leaders for many
centuries, and General Douglas MacArthur studied it as well as
other famed military strategists throughout history. It may sound
like an unusual business school recommendation, but believe me,
it isn’t. It’s valuable and worth your time.
By comparison, another famed book is Machiavelli’s The Prince,
which is more about political conflict and the qualities necessary
for leadership than war or business, but its emphasis on power becomes a negative factor. Ethics and integrity seem to get lost somewhere in the shuffle, and therefore the word Machiavellian has
become a pejorative term. It’s a better use of your time to read
The Art of War.
There are many roads to wisdom and many wonderful books
to educate us on our way. I’m sure you’ll discover your own favorites, but the first step is to take the time to read and learn in
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the first place. In the long term, this will save you time because
you will be learning from people who have already been faced
with serious issues and who have been victorious. Remember, you
need knowledge and experience first.Wisdom will come provided
you give it a chance to develop. First things first, and you will be
pleased at what will follow. The achievement of wisdom will
be all yours.
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If you want to understand today,
you have to search yesterday.
—Pearl S. Buck
}
The More You Learn,
the More You Realize
What You Don’t Know
remember when a friend was studying history and he spent a
long time on World War II. I mentioned that he must be an expert after the amount of time he’d spent on it, and he replied, “It
only made me realize how much I didn’t know. Because in order
to understand WWII, you have to go back to WWI. So now I’m
studying WWI, and I’m sure I’ll have to go further back to understand how WWI came about. It will be a never-ending process.”
This guy was a real scholar, but he mentioned that studying history had made him very humble—because he knew he’d never
know it all no matter how much he studied.
I always remember what this guy said, about learning how
much he didn’t know, and how every time you learn one thing, it
leads to another thing and so on. He went on to become a highly
respected historian, but I can assure you that he isn’t resting on his
many laurels. The humility that studying history has given him
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keeps him young and eager to learn more, no matter how erudite he
is considered to be. He’s a great example of remaining a student—
every day is another opportunity to learn something new.
Sometimes we are so zealous to become successful that we forget about what is significant.The background for success should include some intrinsic values as well as monetary values. We should
be aware of our culture and other cultures, our history and their
history, and we should not live in what has been termed “a cultural vacuum.” Someone once said that not knowing history was
like being a leaf that didn’t know it was part of a tree.That’s an interesting visual and it applies to many people.We are individually
responsible for our education, and that applies whether you’re in
school or not.
If I sound tough on this subject, I am. I see no value whatsoever in believing ignorance to be an attribute. It isn’t. It’s good to
start each day by saying to yourself, “What can I learn today that
I didn’t know before?” It opens you up to more information and
net worth as an individual.Why live restricted lives due to lack of
knowledge when there are so many resources available to us today?
Another interesting aspect of history is that it will lead us to
seeing that we are all a part of it. History isn’t just in the past—it’s
happening now. How can you know what you’re a part of if you
don’t know what it is to begin with? The world didn’t start with
your birth, and it won’t end with your death either. That doesn’t
mean you’re not a part of the scheme of things. To the contrary, it
means that you are.
Back to the leaf image. What if you know you are a leaf, but
you’re not sure what a tree is? I’d say the best thing to do is to find
out what a tree is. It’s pretty simple. It reminds me of an Apprentice task that’s enough of a challenge to set the apprentices out to
discover and research some things before they jump in to the task
at hand.
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I was listening to some Europeans once and they seemed to
agree that Americans didn’t seem to know their roots. Of course,
their roots go back for many more centuries than ours and may
be easier to decipher because many of us have ancestors from different countries. But it gave me a reason to think about what they
said, and I realized in many cases they were right. I recently went
to Scotland, as my mother’s side of the family is of Scottish ancestry, and I’ve spent time studying that country and therefore my
heritage. It could even explain why I love golf so much—it originated in Scotland.
I found that I enjoyed learning about Scotland and it has
broadened my horizons as well as my interests as a businessman. I
am building a golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland, that will be spectacular, and I very much enjoyed my visit and meeting the people from that culture and country. I also realized I still have a lot
to learn, which will no doubt lead me into more interesting ventures as well as adventures.
Take my advice and never be a know-it-all. First of all, it’s
impossible to know everything, and second of all, it’s just no
fun—for you or anyone else. And third, you will be missing out
on some great adventures. So remember to think big by expanding your horizons at the same time you’re expanding your net
worth. That’s what significant success is about.
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For what is the best choice, for each individual,
is the highest it is possible for him to achieve.
—Aristotle
}
Think Like
a Champion
hampions are born and champions are made. One definition
of a champion is someone who shows marked superiority.
Another definition is someone who is a winner of first prize or
first place in competition.We’ve all heard of Olympic champions,
and we’ve probably all seen a few on television. What comes to
mind when I see their amazing ability is the amount of training
they have endured, the sacrifices they’ve made, and the courage
they’ve had to have to get where they are. Those are some of the
attributes of a champion.
They also wanted to achieve something special. Ordinary
wouldn’t be enough for someone who has the mindset of a champion. Champions think big. Champions work in a big-time way.
Champions are focused. Champions are disciplined. Come to think
of it, champions think like champions. As Jack Dempsey said, “A
champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” Let’s hope that
applies to you.
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When I’m having an especially tough day, I often think it’s like
a race and I’d better have the endurance to get through it. Somehow the endurance will surface, because I don’t want to wind up
feeling beaten. Billie Jean King said, “Champions take responsibility. When the ball is coming over the net, you can be sure I want
the ball.” I understand what she was talking about, because I’m the
same way in that respect.
I have a box at the U.S. Open every year because I love to
watch those champions go at it.You can learn a lot from watching the experts, whether you’re interested in sports, the arts, or
whatever. One thing they all have in common is the same mindset: They want to win, they want to be the best. Not the runnerup, but the best.That’s a very important thing to consider. I’ve seen
very talented people fail because deep down I think they were
afraid of winning. Winning comes with a responsibility. Champions rise to that responsibility. Search yourself carefully to make sure
you’re ready and capable. If you’re not, do something about it. It’s
an important element of success.
Most of you know that I’m a golfer. I’ve always said that golf
is a brain game, which it is, but it is a demanding sport technically
and is a game of finesse.You cannot play golf halfheartedly and expect to get anywhere with your game.You have to concentrate and
you have to have patience. As the legendary golfer Bobby Jones
said, “It is nothing new or original to say that golf is played one
stroke at a time. But it took me many years to realize it.” We win
in our daily lives by being careful with every day, by having a
champion’s view of each moment.
Let’s take a look at Aristotle’s quote at the beginning of this
essay.That is self-scrutiny at its highest. It really is the best choice
to go for the highest achievement possible.Why set your goals too
low? Did you ever hear a child saying they want to be nothing
when they grow up? They are full of dreams and plans, and rarely
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are they mediocre aspirations.They want to be presidents, doctors,
astronauts, scientists, and so on.They’re on the right track and have
the right mindset. If you need to, bring yourself back to when you
had high achievement as a goal. Not everyone can be the world
champion at something, but you can strive to be the best you can
be. That’s the first step—and a daily responsibility.
Champions go the extra mile. We all know when we’ve done
just enough and when we’ve really exerted ourselves. Make an effort to exert yourself—every day. Don’t fail because you never allowed yourself to get started! Don’t avoid success because you
think the responsibility might be too much—just focus and get
going! You’d be surprised at what intelligent effort can produce.
Alexander Graham Bell said something that I always remember:
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand.The sun’s
rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” Pay attention to these
things and you will be on your way to thinking like a champion—
and becoming one.
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Art is a lie
which makes us see the truth.
—Pablo Picasso
}
I View My Work
as an Art Form
icasso was not only a great artist, he was also a good businessman. He knew the value of his work and he didn’t make excuses for it. He told a story once about someone who visited his
studio, stood in front of a painting, and asked him, “What does it
represent?” Picasso’s response was, “Two hundred thousand dollars.” He was telling the truth and in no uncertain terms. Picasso
obviously viewed his art as a business, which it was. I view my
business as an art, which it is. You should view your work that
way, too.
Here’s why. Artists are known for their dedication to their
ideals, to their muse—whatever that might be—and for their perseverance in getting things just right.Those are admirable traits to
possess.They will go to great lengths to achieve the desired result.
In 2005, a Beethoven manuscript was discovered in a library, and
he made so many changes and scratches on it that there were holes
punctured through the pages in some places.This work was found
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to be done toward the end of his life, so he wasn’t a novice at writing music at that point.That’s just how he worked—he was a perfectionist who wouldn’t settle for less than his best. He didn’t need
to impress anyone—except himself. That’s a good way to be,
whether you’re a businessperson or a musician.
Compete with yourself to be the best you can be.
That’s the mindset of entrepreneurs—they know that competing with others might possibly lower their own standards.That
may sound tough, but it’s the truth.You have to have your own vision and stick with it. Picasso definitely had his own way of seeing things that certainly worked to his advantage, artistically and
financially. Don’t be afraid of being unique. It’s like being afraid of
your best self.
Back to Picasso’s statement about art being a lie. One take on
that is that the arts very often make the difficult look effortless.
How hard is it to put paint on a canvas? Easy if you don’t know
what you’re doing. A little more complex if you do know what
you’re doing. In my first book, The Art of the Deal, I chose the title
for those very reasons. Anyone in business knows that negotiating
and making deals requires a lot of background work. People don’t
see me doing that part, but it doesn’t mean I don’t do it. For example, when people see the beautiful marble in Trump Tower, they
see that it looks fantastic, but they usually have no idea what I went
through personally to achieve the end result. No one cares about
the blood, sweat, and tears that art or beauty can require. It’s the
end result that matters.
Art is also representational. In other words, it’s not life, but it’s
about life. It can point to truths that we might not notice in our
busy daily lives. It gives us a reflection. When I do a deal, it’s a reflection of my astuteness as a businessman. I strive for a comprehensive approach, much as an artist would. No matter what your
field is, you can learn a lot by emulating that approach as much
as possible.
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My work as a builder combines both craftsmanship and art,
and I refuse to settle for less. I didn’t have to use a rare marble when
I built Trump Tower, but it would make a difference and I knew
it. So when I say I view my work as an art form, you can bet that
I’m as meticulous as any artist is about their materials and the desired result. If you will do the same, I think you’ll surprise yourself at how high your standards will become.
Don’t sell yourself short. Life is an art, business is an art, so be
an artist and best yourself.
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I don’t think much of a man
who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
—Abraham Lincoln
Experience teaches only the teachable.
—Aldous Huxley
}
Building
Connected
Thoughts
omprehensive education dissolves the line between knowing too much and knowing too little on a variety of
subjects—subjects that are necessary for success. I was reminded
of this recently when I interviewed a young man who was very
well versed in his field of expertise and almost uneducated in every
other subject that was brought up. It was like he had tunnel vision, and although I admired his knowledge of his field, I had to
realize that, considering the scope of my enterprises, he might not
be a great fit because of his limited interests. This gave me the
idea for this article, and I think it’s something all of you should
consider as you are furthering your education and/or entering
your careers.
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Aldous Huxley, the great thinker and author of Brave New
World, wrote an essay in 1959 titled “Integrate Education” that is
still pertinent today. He emphasized the importance of building
bridges in knowledge and thought, and the word he mentions for
this is pontifex, or bridge-builder. It’s an interesting image to keep
in mind as we study and learn. By doing so, we increase our learning capacity to include and connect ideas and subjects that may
not specifically pertain to our area of interest, but that may serve
us well to pay attention to.
Oddly enough, as I was thinking of this situation, I was looking through the February 5, 2007, issue of Time magazine, which
featured a letter written by Huxley in 1954, under the heading of
“Classic Letter.” This letter is so right on that it could be contemporary. It addresses the misinterpretations by critics and the
press in their reviews, and while he admits their footnotes are
“snappy,” he goes onto say that, “Snappiness, alas, is apt to be in inverse ratio to accuracy.” This guy knew what he was talking about
on a variety of levels and subjects, and whether you agree with
him or not, his ideas are well presented.
We’ve all heard the saying “connect the dots.” I see it as having enough knowledge to be able to connect the dots in a reasonable and informed way. The young man I interviewed could not
do this. I wasn’t asking for an in-depth review of each topic presented, but an awareness of at least what the topic was. I’ve mentioned before the importance of keeping up with global events on
a daily basis if you are planning to get anywhere in this world.
Considering the availability of news, blind spots can’t really be
rationalized anymore, no matter where you might be living. Information is available to everyone, and if you aren’t plugging into
it, it will eventually work against you—maybe on your first interview. Don’t learn this the hard way!
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Another tactic for being your own bridge-builder is to visualize how much time is saved when you cross a bridge, versus fording a river or traversing a canyon. It’s also a safeguard for falling
into a gap that might take you weeks or months to get yourself
out of. We are not omniscient, and sometimes things work out for
a reason in a different way than we had planned, but take the time
to prepare yourself for your goals. I work at that every single day.
I’ve learned that things don’t just automatically fall into line because I want them to. Be proactive in your pursuit of knowledge.
As I write this, I remind myself that if you are reading it, you
are most likely someone intent on improving your intelligence
quota and someone who is already motivated. So I want you to
ask yourself: What is it that you are aiming for? What precisely is
your motivation? What’s the point of building a bridge if you’re
not sure you want to get to other side, or if you don’t know what
you’ll do once you get there? A bridge must serve a specific purpose, and your goals have to be just that specific.Visualization is a
powerful tool for bringing your intentions into focus.
I was having a conversation a few years ago with a few people when one guy mentioned that the Trump name had become
a famous brand around the world and then added, “What’s in a
name?” He then sort of laughed and said to me,“in your case, a lot!”
I noticed that one guy seemed out of the loop about the quip. So
I said “That’s Shakespeare. ‘What’s in a name’ is a famous line from
Shakespeare.” So he still looked perplexed and asked “From what?”
And although I knew it was from Romeo and Juliet, I said, “Look it
up. You might learn some interesting things along the way.”
I’m not proposing that you spend years studying Shakespeare,
but a topical knowledge of certain things will greatly enhance your
capabilities for dealing in the major leagues with people who are
well educated in a variety of subjects. Don’t be left out! Take a few
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DONALD J. TRUMP
hours a week to review the classics in literature or history or something outside of your usual range of interests. Limiting yourself is
not the best choice. Many topics come up in the course of a business discussion or interview, and while we can’t know everything,
we should know as much as we can.
Abraham Lincoln’s statement at the beginning of this essay
sums up what I’m trying to get across to you. It also incorporates
Huxley’s statement about being teachable. An added bonus to this
attitude is that it will keep you young. Being a know-it-all will age
you before your time, in addition to making you unteachable, so
avoid those pitfalls. And building connected thoughts? Whoever
thought that Abraham Lincoln and Aldous Huxley could be so
connected? This essay proved that they could be, and we didn’t need
any dots to help us—just brain power and the attempt at building
bridges between eras, cultures, backgrounds, and civilizations. Let
that be an example of how to bridge your own gaps and to get
yourself where you want to go. Creative thinking is a must these
days. Make it work for you.
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Fear defeats more people than any
other one thing in the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
To ask the right question is already
half the solution of a problem.
—Carl Jung
}
Confronting
Your Fears
ecently, an interviewer asked me what my greatest fears were.
I said I didn’t have any. He seemed surprised, but this is how
I see it: If you label something as a fear, then it creates fear when
sometimes it’s not a fear but a concern. For example, I know just
as well as everyone else that New York City experienced a major
terrorist attack and the thought of that is a concern for all of us,
because it affects all of us. It’s happened in many places, so it’s a
worldwide concern. But if we let it become a firmly rooted fear,
the terrorists will have won.
The same applies to business. Do you fear owning a business?
Translate that for yourself as asking:Are you concerned about owning a business yourself? Why? What specifically are those concerns?
R
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It’s much easier to break down a concern than it is a fear. Fear creates a block that will only hinder your creative thinking. Objectivity will remove that block and allow for creative ideas to flow.
An antidote to fear is as simple as problem solving. Whether
you have investing, estate planning, or running a business on your
mind, or all of those things, they can be broken down into units
of thought and dealt with in an orderly manner. It’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle—you need to find the right place for each piece of the
puzzle until the whole is apparent.
When I began to construct Trump Tower, for example, I had
several things in mind that I knew I wanted. I wanted a certain
kind of marble called Breccia Perniche, which was expensive, beautiful, and rare. It was also irregular and had white spots and white
veins, which bothered me, so I went to the quarry itself and
marked off the best slabs with black tape. Action turned this concern into a problem solved. I got exactly the marble pieces I
wanted, and sitting around worrying about whether those pieces
would be right or wrong was getting me nowhere. As a result of
deciding to go to the quarry myself, the pieces of this puzzle fell
into place and the finished product was perfect.
Know that if you want to own your own business, you will be
doing a lot of the work yourself.That’s just the way it is. It isn’t all
about giving orders or having other people do the legwork or
brainwork for you. That comes into the picture, but you should
always be ready to go at it yourself. If that idea bothers you, maybe
you’d be better off being an employee. If responsibility comes naturally to you, or if you enjoy that challenge, owning your own
business is a good fit.
Fear has a way of making things bigger than they are. There’s
an old German proverb to the effect that “fear makes the wolf
bigger than he is,” and that is true. But the opposite of fear is faith,
which is one reason you’ve got to believe in yourself and see your52
THINK LIKE A CHAMPION
self as victorious. You will know you are capable of dealing with
any discouragements, bullies, or problems along the way.
When I was faced with some huge debts in the early 1990s, it
was widely reported that I was finished, done for, gone. Looking
at the numbers alone made that seem clear to the media. However, I never believed I was finished. I simply saw that situation as
a problem I had to solve and went about doing that. I’m not saying it was easy, because it wasn’t. It was a big problem. But I refused to give in to fear or to believe what was being said about my
so-called demise. I came back to become more successful than I
ever was, and that’s why I believe business is very much about
problem solving. If you can learn to deal with and solve problems,
you will have a much bigger margin for success.
Do not allow fear to settle into place in any part of your life. It
is a defeating attitude and a negative emotion. Recognize and zap
it immediately. Replace it with a problem-solving attitude, faith
in yourself, and hard work. Put that formula into working order
for yourself and you’ll be dealing from a position of power, not
fear. That’s winning.
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People with vision master the ability to see
through to the heart of issues and investments.
They value transparency.
—Robert Kiyosaki
}
Imagination: A Key
to Financial Savvy
have the great advantage of having graduated from the Wharton School of Business, which is probably the best in the world.
They made sure we were well versed in everything having to do
with business.This is not always a guarantee of success, but at least
we were well equipped for it.
Having had this advantage, I will explain a few things for those
who haven’t. Finance and business is a complex mix of components
that embraces a large spectrum of enterprises. It’s like having a
technique and then being able to apply it to different mediums.
As a builder, I instinctively saw the different aspects of finance fitting and falling into place in a large blueprint—and as I learned
more, those blueprints became larger and larger.When I look back,
I realize I was thinking big way back in school.
This might sound simplistic, but I’m a firm believer in visualization, and it worked for me. A blueprint might not work for you,
I
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DONALD J. TRUMP
but they are something I was familiar with. It might be a Miró
painting or some other design or sculpture that works for you. I’ve
heard some interesting stories of what people visualized on their
path to success. One person used a photograph of bread and salt
as his inspiration, and he became vastly successful.To each his own
on this one.
Some financial courses are dry—but necessary. I was able to
handle them by making them more interesting in my own mind
by applying the principles immediately to some imaginary project I would come up with. By doing this, I was already working
in the real world while I was in school, which I think saved me a
lot of time when I actually got started on my own. I had been
multitasking before I knew what multitasking was.
In reviewing my career, I think this aspect of my approach, on
top of having the foundation of great schooling, is largely responsible for my success. I didn’t realize I was doing it until much later,
when I would somehow know how things worked or where things
went in the big picture of any project I might be considering or actively involved in. I had already been working on it years before, and
while I still encountered problems, things would somehow fall into
place as they should. It’s one way of being prepared.
A lot of people have imagination, but it doesn’t help them because they can’t execute. I’m able to execute with the imagination.
Make sure your foundation is there to begin with and then grow
from there in your imagination.That’s how vision and transparency
work together—and results can be remarkable.
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Everyone who got where he is
has had to begin where he was.
—Robert Louis Stevenson
}
Is Business
Success a
Natural Talent?
lot of people think I’m a natural at business. In some ways they
might be right, but it’s also an acquired skill that takes discipline and focus, just as being an athlete or a musician takes perseverance and years of training. Before I decided to go to the Wharton
School of Finance, I had thought about attending the University
of Southern California to study film, but once I decided on Wharton, I was a very serious and focused business student.
There’s a certain amount of bravado in what I do these days,
and part of that bravado is to make it look easy. That’s why I’ve
often referred to business as being an art. I’ve always liked Andy
Warhol’s statement that, “making money is art and working is art
and good business is the best art.” I agree.
I received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January
of 2007, which was a big surprise for someone who opted for
Wharton and real estate as a career. Did I have a natural talent
A
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DONALD J. TRUMP
for the entertainment industry? Maybe, but I’ve also always paid
attention to it. I understand how it operates, and I’m always learning. When I was in school, I always did more than was expected
and studied on my own in addition to what was required. I’ve noticed that a lot of very successful people have done the same thing,
no matter what their respective fields might be.
Winston Churchill was known for being a great orator, and I
remember thinking he must have been born with this talent until
I read about him and discovered he spent a great deal of time developing this skill. It wasn’t just a natural ability—he worked at it
constantly. His talent was the result of deliberate and focused work.
Mozart studied music at an unusually early age, and his aptitude
was obviously there, but that aptitude was carefully developed.
The natural ability I may have as a businessman is being able to
see the big picture while I’m taking care of a lot of details. I can
focus on a few things at once at this point and find them working
themselves out.That comes with experience, but I remember making a deliberate attempt to assimilate as much as possible at all times,
even back in school.
Some people are visionaries. Bill Gates is an example, as is
Mark Burnett, but they are also very good businessmen. So where
does talent come in? Some people just seem to have an edge for
what they do, like Tiger Woods or Roger Federer in sports. There
are prodigies, it seems, but under close scrutiny all prodigies were
carefully trained. I think talent has to do with aptitude for what
you are doing. Some people are simply doing the wrong thing, and
when they find the right thing, they become successful. Working
hard and working intelligently should go together.
Heredity and environment are two factors that I consider seriously, from personal experience. My father was a great example:
He was in the construction and real estate industry, and I saw firsthand what it took to succeed. I had no delusions of it being an
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easy or glamorous path. I chose to make it more glamorous because my tastes went toward that aesthetic. I consider myself very
fortunate to have had this education from my father from an early
age. I believe it gave me a great advantage, and I often say that I’m
a member of the lucky sperm club.
But did it give me a natural talent? I don’t think so. It gave me
an advantage that I deliberately chose to develop into an advantage. You can be around something and either have no interest or
aptitude for it, so it wouldn’t be of any help to you. My elder
brother had no interest in real estate and decided to do something
else. I had a friend who worked on Wall Street because everyone
in his family did, but he was a disaster. All the familiar indications
were there for his success, but he wasn’t suited for it, and not until
he left and did something else did he become successful.
When I started to develop golf courses, I had a lot to learn. I
loved the game and knew golf courses as a player, but developing
a golf course is another story. I consulted with the world’s experts
before I started out. My golf courses have won awards for their
beauty, but it wasn’t a natural talent I had as a developer. My advantage is that I had a passion for the game and wanted the most
beautiful courses possible to be realized.
There has been research done on cross training your brain, and
they mention how you can transfer the skills developed to enhance
your performance in other areas. That’s one reason I have always
encouraged people to golf—it’s a brain game and it works on several levels. I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas and solutions to problems
during a golf game, so I readily endorse this theory. It works. It might
be painting or playing the piano that works for you, but it gives
credibility to the developing of a hobby or outside interest that
will complement your business bent.
I’ve also come to believe in luck. I’ve known people who have
worked hard and done everything to succeed, and yet it just
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DONALD J. TRUMP
doesn’t seem to happen for them. I’m not sure what the concrete
reasons might be, but it makes me believe in luck to a certain extent. It’s also true that not everyone can be wildly successful.
Maybe it’s just a balance in the world that we can’t always control.
But I’ve noticed that it helps to believe you’re lucky, because luck
will seem to favor you.
Business is about creativity.That’s where the art part comes in.
Every industry has its leaders, and if I’m known in real estate, it is
because I approach my work cognitively as well as creatively. Peter
Gelb, the general manager at the Metropolitan Opera, is really putting the opera back on the map by applying contemporary marketing ideas to this venerable institution. He is promoting it in
ways that today’s market can absorb and appreciate.You have to be
alert for ways of revitalizing the old and creating the new, or combining them, to achieve the best results.
It was decades ago that I bought the deserted rail yards along
the Hudson River, and today Trump Place is nearing completion—
eighteen beautiful buildings, a park, and a pier that have enhanced
Manhattan’s West Side. Sometimes people think things just happen overnight, but that’s not always the case, even if you are well
known and well established. Success is often a matter of patience,
and patience can be developed if you don’t have it naturally.
In summation, is business success a natural talent? I think it’s a
combination of aptitude, work, and luck.
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He who will not economize
will have to agonize.
—Confucius
}
Keep It Short,
Fast, and Direct
hen Confucius mentions “agonize” in his quote, I have to
tell you that I can relate. As someone on the receiving end
of conversations with people who do not know how to edit themselves, I can understand what agony means. I don’t mean to be impolite, but I am often thinking to myself, “how long is it going to
take for this person to get to the point? We could’ve flown to Australia by now and they’re still in the middle of take-off.” Business
is no place for stream of consciousness babbling, no matter how
colorful you might think you’re being.Whatever you’re doing, keep
it short, fast, and direct. It’s also more polite. Most people don’t
have time to waste. I realize that Confucius was referring to the
noneconomizer, and they will suffer, too, but why make everyone
miserable by being unnecessarily chatty?
I mentioned in my book Think Like a Billionaire that Ricardo
Bellino had exactly three minutes to give me his business presentation. I was extremely busy that day and not particularly in the
W
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DONALD J. TRUMP
mood for a presentation, so I thought he might decline, which
would free up my day a bit. Not only did he not decline, he gave
me such a great presentation within those three minutes that we
did a deal together. It’s surprising what people can do with
a deadline.
I mention that because sometimes we have to give ourselves
deadlines. Practice giving your presentation in under five minutes.
Practice giving your introduction in less than three minutes. You
will discover that you can be an effective editor by cutting out
everything that isn’t absolutely necessary. Your audience, or your
superiors, will be grateful for your ability to distill the essence
for them.
We probably all know what it’s like to receive junk mail. Sometimes there are piles of it waiting for us, and we have to sort
through it all to get to the important stuff. Don’t offer any junk
mail to anyone—just give them the good stuff, or the necessary
items. That can get you places far faster than you can imagine.
In that sense, business is often like a relay race. To have a tight
team, a winning team, you can’t have someone who lags behind,
because everyone will suffer because of it. Make sure you’re not
the one who holds things up for everyone. Learn to sprint when
it comes to being clear. Have a contest with yourself by asking,
“How concise can I possibly be?”Then best yourself every time.
Get to the essence immediately.
Someone who analyzed my negotiating technique said I had
an advantage over most people because I had the ability to get to
the point faster than anybody else.While they were still formulating their sentences, I’d already written the book. I already had the
deal done in my head. That ability didn’t happen overnight—I’ve
worked at it for a long time. But we can all put that technique to
work every day, whether it’s relaying a message to someone, writing a letter, or ordering lunch.
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Those of you who have watched The Apprentice will notice that
the candidates who can present the facts with the least amount of
verbal decoration will have an advantage. Listening to a five-minute
explanation that can be easily edited to thirty seconds automatically sends a red alert to me and my advisors. We don’t have
the time for loquacious colleagues, and the longwinded diatribes
we often have to suffer through will greatly diminish their chances
of winning.
Simple as it sounds, there is great wisdom in the short, fast, and
direct route. Knowing where you’re going in your conversation
and demonstrating to others you know where you’re going by
being concise, is a big step toward leadership and respect. Hone
these skills in every situation and with every opportunity you have,
whether you’re in line at the corner deli or in the boardroom on
The Apprentice. Learn to economize. People appreciate brevity in
today’s world.
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Don’t find fault.
Find a remedy.
—Henry Ford
}
Have the
Right Mindset
for the Job
hen I think of work, I often see it as problem solving. I’ve
said before that if you don’t have problems, then either
you’re pretending not to see something or you don’t run your own
business. Problems come with the territory, and they should never
surprise you.You should expect them.
Even if you work for someone else, it’s a good idea to expect
problems and to be ready for them. To me it’s a realistic approach.
No matter how hard you work, there are times that things happen
that are out of our control. Keep your eyes on your ideals as well
as reality. That’s what being prepared really means.
Very often when people refer to the morning of September 11,
2001, they will mention that it was a beautiful September morning in New York City. Within two hours, our view of a beautiful
morning had been radically changed. Were we prepared for it?
Could we control the outcome?
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DONALD J. TRUMP
That is an extreme example, but it helps to be in control of
those things we can control. Every day ask yourself what problems might arise, review every project yourself, and make sure you
are on top of your own agenda. Be as thorough as possible. Be alert.
In business, there are no half-days or slow days. If there are, something’s missing. Make it your business to find out what it is, and
then do something about it. Find a remedy.
When I say have the right mindset, I am thinking about responsibility. People who take responsibility have no need to blame
others or to be continually finding fault. These are the naysayers
who never amount to much, and never manage to contribute
much either. Don’t join their club. They’re the lowest common
denominator.
I knew a guy that I used to call up just to see who and what
he would be blaming that day. I don’t think that guy ever made a
single mistake in his entire life—from day one nothing was ever
his fault. His biggest blind spot was himself, and sad to say, he eventually became a total loser because he never thought of the remedy for his many failures: himself. Look at yourself first when
things go wrong.
I’ve been in business long enough now, and have had ups and
downs, so I can go from seeing the problem to seeing the solution rather quickly. Don’t emphasize the problem so much—
emphasize the solution. It’s a mindset that works, and it’s one way
to accentuate the positive without being blind to the negative.
Another tip for those of you who work for someone else:
While you may be budding entrepreneurs, there is great value to
being able to be an effective and efficient team player. If you have
watched The Apprentice, you will notice that the people without
team skills don’t do so well.Yes, each person wants to win, but part
of the game, and an important part, is to work well with your team.
It’s something that will be noticed in any work environment. Can
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you employ out-of-the-box thinking while remaining within the
constraints of team effort?
I’ve also noticed how much time The Apprentice teams spend
bickering and infighting, which is not only a waste of precious
time, but annoying and sometimes even embarrassing.These people are highly qualified, and to see and hear them carrying on at
length, many times over inconsequential things, is a clear indication that they should heed Henry Ford’s advice about finding a
remedy instead of finding fault.
Give your full attention to your work! I’m constantly surprised
by people who don’t seem to have this ability.That’s why you hear
me emphasizing focus so much—it’s absolutely necessary in order
to achieve results. Mindset includes responsibility and focus. We all
know how to turn on the television set. Be equally adept at turning on your mind to matters at hand and you might surprise yourself by what you can accomplish.
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The beginning of wisdom
is a definition of terms.
—Socrates
}
Momentum Is Something
You Have to Work at
to Maintain
ocrates lived a long time ago, but he came up with some good
ones. For example, a definition of terms could be another way
of saying “negotiation” or it could mean the definition of a word
or simply the wisdom of being concise. But just as negotiation
takes practice, so does momentum. You don’t do one great deal
and then think that every deal you subsequently make will automatically be great.You don’t get a great rhythm going once and
then think it will always be there. Even the greatest jazz musicians
know there’s a “zone” they’re aiming for, and hopefully they’ll get
there. But they don’t take it for granted that they will. They work
at it every time they play.
Momentum comes in different forms, but its common denominator is energy. Some synonyms are power, force, strength,
impetus, and drive—all good things for accomplishments of any
sort. We’ve all heard of biorhythms and how we have high days
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and low days, but my approach to that is to design your own chart
and then work at maintaining it. My biorhythms are always on full
speed ahead. I’ve developed my stamina to keep up to that level,
and the results are apparent at this point.
Many things become easier with practice and experience, and
momentum is one of them. You can take advantage of this great
energy source just by being aware that it exists. It’s like swimming
with the current versus being dragged down and out by a riptide.
Find your own current and then go with it! Don’t allow for distractions. Do everything you can to maintain your energy flow.
There was a hugely successful real estate developer that I admired very much, and then he went into a decline. We saw each
other at a party, and I pointedly asked him what caused this to happen. He said, “Donald, I lost my momentum, and I couldn’t get it
back.” When this guy fell, he fell hard. I learned a great lesson from
him that night, so much so that I devoted a lot of time to studying and applying the power of momentum to my own life and
business. I didn’t ever want that to happen to me, and I repeat this
story for a reason. The lesson applies whether you’re in real estate
or not.
I see people who get in their own way when it comes to momentum. I knew a guy who would take ten big fast steps forward
and then sit there, like he’d reached a plateau, and would expect
things to just keep moving forward. It doesn’t work that way!
Maybe he liked the rollercoaster approach to business, but he literally wore himself out before he had enough substantial success
to see him through, and his ups and down didn’t work out on the
balance sheet in the long run. Watch out for streaks of momentum that you can’t sustain—keep your equilibrium in all things,
even in your energy output.
There’s a Newsweek ad from the late ’80s in which they have
a photograph of me with the caption, “Few things in life are as
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brash as Newsweek.” I don’t mind being called brash because to me
it’s being bold, it’s having energy, it’s getting things done. But there
are constraints to be considered, and my momentum is carefully
monitored. I’m not exactly brash in that sense, but I know you
can’t get things done if you’re too timid. My persona will never
be one of the wallflower—I’d rather build walls than cling to them.
Socrates said things that can make us think. So here’s another
take on the quote that opened this essay: Maybe he’s advising us
to define our own terms. Maybe he’s suggesting that we start
thinking for ourselves. Maybe what he’s suggesting is actually very
wise advice. In that case, my advice to you regarding momentum
is definitive: Get yours going!
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Is it a blip, or
is it a catastrophe?
—Donald J. Trump
}
Learn from
Setbacks
and Mistakes
ow we handle difficult situations in life says a lot about who
we are. How we view them is also an important element in
how we will deal with adversity. Some events will wipe out one
person but will make another person even more tenacious. That’s
why I always ask myself, “Is this a blip, or is it a catastrophe?”—it
gives me a point of reason in the midst of bad news.
You’ve heard me talk about passion before, how it’s a necessary ingredient for success. Reason is also necessary, and when we
experience setbacks and mistakes, that can be a good time to employ reason or objectivity. It is also sets us up to learn something
from the experience. It’s like the old saying about when one door
closes, another door opens—I see it as meaning there’s another
chance, another opportunity waiting. But we have to be open to
it. I’ve known some people who could be staring at an open door
and not even realize it’s open, let alone its significance.
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I can remember when things turned around for me in a big
way, and what I learned is that you have to maintain your focus at
all times—and your momentum.You’ve heard me mention those
two success tips before, and this is because I learned about them
the hard way—I’d lost my focus and suddenly I was faced with
some setbacks. But here’s another thought:Your problems can be
temporary if you keep your momentum moving forward. We all
experience difficulties, but they can be blips if you remain positive and move on.
When I decide to do something, I have enough experience to
expect problems. Rarely is anything worth doing just a breeze.
Sometimes I feel like Sisyphus, who was condemned to ceaselessly
rolling a stone uphill—but that’s just the way it is sometimes. So I
just keep going. I don’t give up. My focus is intense enough to
make the effort worth it, and my momentum makes sure that my
efforts won’t be futile. I have learned a lot because of demanding
situations.
One way to avoid mishandling mistakes is to realize they can
happen to us every day. It’s a way of being prepared without being
a pessimist. Problems, setbacks, mistakes, and losses are all a part of
life. It’s something we have to accept. We shouldn’t be shocked if
and when they happen. Don’t let things knock you off your feet
or off your rocker either. Keep your equilibrium by knowing what
you’re dealing with. If you are taken by surprise, then by all means,
ask yourself what you’ve learned from the experience. Don’t just
go out and make the same mistake again and hope for the best.
You’ll be getting a lot of the same hard knocks and tough lessons
over and over again if you don’t assess your situation each and
every time.
Here’s where the going gets tricky.You have to know when to
call it quits and when to keep moving forward.There’s always that
fine line between acceptance and resignation to think about.
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Sometimes it’s not so fine—as when you find out someone is a
scoundrel and nothing’s going to change them. Then it’s wise to
call it quits with them. Other times, we have to realize that everyone makes mistakes and to try to be a little more accepting of that
fact. Just as you don’t want to give up on yourself, you can’t always just give up on other people either.That’s where experience
and discernment will come in. But what’s most important is to
never give up on yourself. You never know when the tide is going
to turn in your favor, providing you have been paying attention
and working toward something worthwhile.
There was a time, early in my real estate career, when I was
trying to get a deal done and I thought I’d endured and worked
through every obstacle possible. Wrong. It took me two months
more of hammering away at the details until I arrived at what was
considered a done deal. Had I known what I was going to have to
go through from the beginning, I’m not sure I would have had the
fortitude to go for it or to stick it out. But I’m glad I did. It was
my first big success, which was the renovation of the Grand Hyatt
Hotel at Grand Central. Did I learn a lot? You bet I did. Every setback gave me a great lesson, and I was becoming a very educated
man in the process.
You have to be the same way, and you can be the same way.
Just be tough, be strong, be willing to learn—and you will learn.
So don’t be afraid of mistakes or setbacks.They can be your learning tools on the way to building something great for yourself.
We all have something to learn today. Remember that and your
chances for success will increase dramatically.
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A man cannot be comfortable
without his own approval.
—Mark Twain
}
Tell People
About
Your Success
have a friend who is extremely accomplished and also extremely
wealthy. Uber-wealthy, as they say. But one day he called me up
to see if I could get him reservations at Jean Georges Restaurant
and I had to ask myself, “What’s the point of his immense success
if he can’t even get a reservation in New York?” The only reason
he can’t is because no one has ever heard about him. He’s shy about
using his name, to the extent that it serves him no good. He has
to call other people, like me, to help him out.
That got me to thinking about the toot-your-own-horn theory, which is something I believe in. Here’s a perfect example of
why I believe in it.This poor rich guy might as well be just a poor
guy when trying to get in the right places. The power of a name
can be incredible. It can open doors like nothing else. A lot of
people might have been richer than Aristotle Onassis, but when
people heard the name Onassis, they knew who he was. I’ve
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mentioned before that one of the perks of being famous is being
able to get restaurant reservations without any problem. My uberrich friend has not entitled himself to very many perks.
Ever notice if you introduce someone and then later add on
something like, “as you know, he won the Pulitzer prize,” that the
reaction to the person becomes entirely different? It goes from
polite to excited in no time flat. Suddenly the nobody is a somebody. Suddenly their PR power, or their buzz effect, has escalated.
But unless you have someone around to toot your horn for you,
you’ll have to get accustomed to doing it for yourself. The wellestablished brand name literally speaks for itself. Some people may
not even like the designs Karl Lagerfeld comes up with for
Chanel, but because it says Chanel, they’ll buy them, wear them,
and love them.
A name can speak volumes, but until you have a “household
name” you might do well to tell people who you are and what
you’ve done. It’s a start. It’s also a way of networking to find out
if you might have common interests. Can you imagine if Luciano
Pavarotti had been singing, contentedly, in some obscure place his
whole life, what we would have missed? Or if Elton John was
happy to just sing for himself in a garage somewhere? There’s nothing wrong with bringing your talents to the surface.
Having an ego and acknowledging it is a healthy choice. Our
ego is the center of our consciousness and gives us a sense of purpose. People with no ego will have very little life force, and people with too much will tend toward dictatorial personalities. As
with everything, keeping a good balance is important. Your ego
can serve to keep your momentum moving forward. It can keep
you vibrant and productive. It can keep your focus where it should
be, which is on your work. After awhile, you won’t have to tell
people about your success because they’ll already know about it.
Do not disregard your ego.
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It’s very important to be your own best friend. As Mark Twain
put it, be comfortable with your own approval. A lot of times, people will enjoy belittling your accomplishments as well as your ambitions. If you are steadfast in your self-respect, that will not even
bother you because you will be able to see those people as the
small fries that they are. Critics serve their own purpose, and that’s
fine, because you’ll be smart enough to serve your own purpose,
too. Think about it: If you can’t say great things about yourself,
who do you think will? So don’t be afraid to toot your own horn
when you’ve done something worth tooting about. Let’s end with
another statement from Mark Twain: “I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.”
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The best vision is insight.
—Malcolm Forbes
}
Prescience
rescience is a word that defines vision, foresight, creative discernment, or perception. I have often been called a visionary, but not until 2006 was I noted for having prescience. The
same day as the book launch party in Trump Tower for my book
with Robert Kiyosaki, Why We Want You To Be Rich, which was
October 12, 2006, was also the day the Nobel Committee announced the 2006 Nobel Prize winner in literature. What does
that have to do with me? Well, I was getting calls and letters of
congratulations for having the “prescience” to recognize the
Nobel winner’s talent before the Nobel Committee did. This
came as a surprise to me—that people would remember my
letter to the New York Times in 2005 in which I mentioned the
very gifted writer Orhan Pamuk (along with John Updike and
Philip Roth) as being an example of what a great writer should
be. Pamuk won the Nobel Prize that day, and considering he
wasn’t exactly a household name, people were suddenly saying I
had prescience.
Sometimes we just have perceptions about certain people or
things, and this was one of those times. Did I know he was going
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to win the Nobel Prize? No, but his talent was certainly developed enough to make him a contender, and I might have bet on
it. I’ve written before about using your gut instincts, and sometimes that’s what prescience or foresight is. It’s a valuable ability,
especially in business, and it’s worth giving it some thought.
More recently, we experienced a historic day in the financial
sector. What happened on Wall Street was unprecedented, and it
was rightly called “the shock market” in mid-September of 2008.
Neal Cavuto asked me to make a comment about it, and he found
footage of an appearance I’d made on his show eight months prior
to this debacle in which I’d predicted something similar happening. I had seen the indications that we might be entering a very
difficult phase. Is this ESP? No, it’s just paying attention on a daily
basis and looking into the future a bit.That’s insight and foresight
working together.
We all have hidden areas of expertise. I may have instincts
when it comes to real estate, but I have also spent many years developing them.Your instincts may be more acute in another area.
There’s nothing wrong with very solid knowledge and experience
to go along with our perceptions. In fact, that is when you will be
playing with a very full deck. Experience, knowledge, and prescience are a formidable combination of powers. Do not underestimate any of them.
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I am more concerned with
my money being returned than
the return on my money.
—Mark Twain
}
The Shock
Market
hat transpired on Wall Street on September 15, 2008, is one
day for the history books. I had predicted this would happen about two years ago and again about eight months ago when
I appeared on Neal Cavuto’s show. That the landscape of Wall
Street could be altered this rapidly is something we should think
about. September 15, 2008, was the worst day on Wall Street since
right after the 9/11 attacks, with a fallout of some financial giants
that we thought were untouchable.
Here’s my view of this situation. We survived and prospered
after 9/11, and we will do the same this time. The components
are different, but I believe the government is doing the right
thing with this financial mess. They have worked hard and long,
but a mess is a mess. I won’t equivocate on that. I saw the indications that the world was in for a tough period of time, so I can’t
say I’m terribly surprised.
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Here are some points to consider. The price of oil, which is
the life blood of all economies, is down.That’s good news. I’ve already written about that subject and about the many tankers full
of oil treading water and going nowhere.
Out of chaos comes reinvention.That can be a good thing, although it won’t be easy. There appears to have been a lack of balance, and this is one way of starting something new that might be
more effective. Necessity creates a place for creativity, and having
the facility to implement a plan B strategy is something everyone
should strive for. I’ve learned that having a plan B is common
sense. We’ll just have to come up with one, and it could eventually be better than what we’ve had.
As a Manhattan real estate developer, my observation is that
there will be more people looking for jobs than will be looking
for apartments. That’s not great news for the real estate market in
New York City, but it’s not dire. A lot of things are and will continue to be changing, in our country as well as around the world.
There is a well-known Greek motto that I think is pertinent to
today’s economic situation: “The sea gets sick but never dies.” The
Greeks have been around for a long time and they’ve watched
the ebb and flow of history for many centuries.
Remember that things are cyclical, so be resilient, be patient,
be creative, and remain positive. Reinvention can be a good thing
for everyone.
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Wealth is the product of
man’s capacity to think.
—Ayn Rand
}
Financial
Literacy
inancial literacy is financial intelligence. Robert Kiyosaki, the
author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, explains how he learned about
money from two father figures, his poor dad and his rich dad. He
had a mentor who explained how money works, and since his own
father was highly educated but poor, the lessons were brought to
light in a very tangible way for him. If you haven’t read Rich Dad
Poor Dad or Cashflow Quadrant, I would suggest that you do. He
has very sound advice that can make a big difference in your quality of life and your approach to money.
The reason we wrote Why We Want You To Be Rich is because
the more independent people become, the stronger a nation becomes as a whole. As we’ve noticed with the recent upheaval on
Wall Street, things aren’t always as solid as they seem. That calls
for individual responsibility and financial intelligence.We can’t rely
on systems to do the work for us or expect things to fall in place
because the people who are smart about money are supposedly
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working there. I have always been wary of the stock market. It’s a
gamble, but it can be lucrative, which is the lure.
In short, there are no guarantees.That means being alert to national and world markets. Do your homework daily. I shouldn’t
need to emphasize this if you’ve paid attention to what’s transpired
in the United States from 2006 until now, which is late 2008.There
was an implosion in the financial sector that was unprecedented
in our history. I see it as a wake-up call.
Robert and I tried to warn people back in 2006. Now I’m
back to tell you loud and clear that this area of your life is of
great importance. Yes, study your specific area of interest diligently, but realize that if there is no money for scholarships,
whether you are studying anthropology or literature or law, you
might be out of luck. Everyone will be affected. Whatever your
emphasis of study is, be aware of what is going on financially
around the world.
We are all businessmen and women, whether you see it that
way yet or not. If you like art and can’t make money at it, you
eventually realize that everything is business, even your art. That’s
why I like Warhol’s statement about good business being the best
art. It’s a fact.That’s also another reason I see my business as an art
and so I work at it passionately.
We all have opinions. Due diligence means finding out the difference between opinions and facts. I was astounded to find out
how many people don’t know how the financial world is set up.
Equities, emerging markets, asset management, commodities, mutual funds, hedge funds, annuities, stocks, bonds, and mortgages
should be common knowledge by the time you are in high school.
That’s a big oversight in our educational system. Every student
should know how they all work and never expect a financial “expert” to give them the whole story. You have to know it yourself.
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This is a capitalistic society, which is good, but it also means watching out for yourself.
My advice to you is to take as many finance classes as you
can, no matter what your line of work is and/or your focus of
study might be. If you’re not good at economics or statistics, all
the more reason to take those classes and pay attention. Having
a financial blind spot is setting yourself up for some unpleasant
surprises in the future. Know how the financial sector works. It
affects you in every way.
I heard someone say during the amazing collapse of some financial giants in the United States, that, “I’m not really interested
in the market.” Oh really?! I was stunned. As if it doesn’t affect
them! When they don’t have a job to go to next week, maybe
they’ll realize they should be interested. The ripple effect is felt
everywhere, nationally and internationally, when the markets and
banks falter. It shows we are all connected, whether we want to
believe that or not.
My emphasis here is to advise you to be financially literate. It’s
in your best interest in the biggest sense you can imagine. Please
heed my advice and pay attention.You can start by clicking onto
the Finance page on Yahoo! when you go onto your computer
every day. Check out the markets a few times a day and see how
the dollar is doing against the Euro and Yen. Learn to read the
charts and the trends. Read the pertinent articles.That’s a baby step,
but it will get you thinking on the right wavelength—which could
make a significant difference in your quality of life.
A hungry man will realize something immediately. If he had
money, he wouldn’t be hungry.That’s a very basic visual, but it applies. In other words, pay attention to your financial literacy.
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Every individual has a place
to fill in the world and is important, in some respect,
whether he chooses to be so or not.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne
}
Destiny
hen I was going through my mail one day, I came across a
stack of letters from students in middle school about The
Apprentice and the business lessons they’ve learned from watching
it. There must have been forty letters, so I skimmed through them,
and a couple questions stood out because they were asked repeatedly. One was about how to achieve success, and the other one
was how to deal with obstacles on the way to success.
My first thought was how important planning ahead is to success, and how equally important it is to remain flexible with those
plans. How do you tell students about the importance of plans and
sticking to them while still emphasizing the necessity for flexibility? It would seem to be a contradiction.
There’s a quote I like by an anonymous thinker: “The bend
in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the
turn.” That’s a valuable thought for business skills as well as life
skills. Very rarely does everything work out the way we hope or
think it will. In fact, sometimes it works out better when you’ve
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had to take a few detours along the way, but what will help you
the most is to be prepared for them. Interesting things have
happened to people when they’ve taken side trips, planned or
otherwise.
I was scheduled to make a short appearance on a boat in New
York City and then to get off before it took an evening long cruise
around Manhattan. The boat was full of happy and excited people, and the festivities were just starting to begin, but I had other
plans in midtown, and I was getting ready to leave when I noticed
that the boat had already left the dock and was in the middle of
the river. I wasn’t too happy about this turn of events, but there
wasn’t much I could do about it except to adjust my mood and
accept a cruise around my favorite city as an unexpected adventure. What happened is that I had the opportunity to talk with a
variety of people while having some great ideas at the same time.
New York City is beautiful when it’s lit up at night and it turned
out to be a very pleasant evening for everyone. If I had perceived
the situation as a misadventure, I don’t think I would have had
some of the creative ideas that came to me, or as much fun.
This is a simple example of an unanticipated event that turned
into a positive memory. I had plans that were business related that
had to be changed, but it wasn’t the end of the world. It was a blip,
not a catastrophe.When these things happen to you, whether they
be big or small events, remember that your perception of their
magnitude will play a big part in what you can reap from them.
We’ve all heard the term “go with the flow,” and in my case, that’s
what I had to do unless I wanted to jump overboard and attempt
to swim the Hudson River at night. Sometimes common sense
will intervene, too.
Carefully planning your way to success is a sure way to achieve
your goals, and that approach should never be underestimated. Just
remember that you need to be patient and persevering and to
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know that there can be delays and detours along the way. I’ve
waited twenty years to see some things happen, but it was worth
the wait and I had to change course a few times until the pieces
finally fell into place. Destiny has a part to play in your life and in
your business—so give it a chance to work.
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What lies behind us
and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
}
Each Success Is the
Beginning of the Next One
hat thought by Ralph Waldo Emerson has always been an inspiration to me. It gives me energy to keep going full force
because I know I still have a lot to accomplish. No matter what I
may have achieved—or plan to achieve—I know it’s “a tiny matter” compared to what I am capable of doing.Think about it: How
can we be complacent with that kind of thought pattern going
on? It would be impossible!
When I hear people say things like, “It’s impossible to do
more!” I always smile to myself and think, “I’ve just started!”—and
it’s just a great way to feel. I’d like you to have that feeling, too, because it’s like having stepping stones in all the right places just waiting for you to see them.
Sometimes it helps to minimize your achievements to yourself so that you will be eager to do more. It’s like saying, “Yeah, that
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was good, but I’m just getting warmed up” as a way to keep
yourself challenged. The best achievers are those who are selfmotivated, who are naturally curious, and who don’t need to be
told what to do next. Strive to be that kind of person. Entrepreneurs are driven by their own inner forces, and it’s a great way of
life as well as a great approach to life.
What lies within us? Hopefully, a lot of great ideas and plans
for the future as well as the innate sense of our ability to achieve
them. I think Emerson was alluding to this idea of hope in his
statement. It’s important for survival and it’s important for success.
Sometimes it is what keeps us going when the odds may not be
on our side. Don’t underestimate the power of some of the unseen or intangible forces in your life. Just because you can’t see
something doesn’t mean it’s not there.The first person to give you
a chance should be yourself.
So give yourself a chance—every single day. Some people really are their own worst enemy. Don’t fall into that abyss—because
that’s really what it is. Ever watched children when they are trying something new? They are excited, they are eager, and they welcome the challenge. That’s an attitude to recapture or to try to
emulate. The enthusiasm that discovery provides is a sure way to
make sure that everything you are doing is paving the way toward
your current as well as future successes. I received a letter from my
kindergarten teacher, and she mentioned that what she remembers most clearly about me is that I never stopped asking questions. I wrote back to her and informed her that some things never
change—that I still ask a lot of questions. But I said that it had
obviously served me well, and I thanked her, belatedly, for her patience many years ago. Every one of my questions was the beginning of the next one.
So here’s one for you: If you had nothing at all to do, what
would you do? And after you did that, what would you do? And
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after you did that, what would be next on your list? I call that
multithinking versus multitasking. Most people have at least
a few things they want to do. Sometimes one thing leads to
another—that’s a form of discovery. Discovery breeds discovery, as
in success breeds success. Quest-ions are thoughts with a quest.
Can you guess what the quest is? Knowledge. Knowledge is
power. That’s one reason you’re reading this essay. No one is born
a know-it-all.Wouldn’t that be a little boring? I think it might be.
Fortunately, at this time in history, things are moving so quickly
that no one has the right to boredom. Just keeping up is the challenge we all have today. I like that challenge, because a challenge
equals a success just waiting to happen.
Let’s end this with a few good questions: What lies behind
you? (What are your life experiences and education up to this
point?) What lies before you? (What are your goals, your plans,
your aspirations?) What lies within you? (Do you have what it takes
to succeed? Do you know the full extent of your abilities yet? Do
you know what the future holds for you? Do you know how your
dreams will evolve?) Let’s admit it—life is full of mystery. That includes your life, which is no tiny matter. So don’t sell yourself short
on something that important. Today is just the beginning.
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Learning without thought
is labor lost.
—Confucius
}
There Are Times
When You Should
Move On
ometimes we have to be patient and sometimes we have to
get moving. Wisdom is knowing which time is which and
when to do what. I know, easier said than done. But we all know
when we’ve exhausted certain possibilities—and quite possibly
ourselves—in the course of finding out. Wouldn’t it be great to
know everything first?
That could save a lot of time. One way is to train your brain
to do some assessing first. Do the “scenario” test: What if I quit
this job, what would tomorrow bring? Maybe some adventures,
but without a paycheck.What if I stayed in this job? The same old
stuff but with a paycheck. What if I thought about a new career?
A good plan, because you can stay in your job while you’re working your brain toward something more challenging. Sometimes
that will even open up opportunities in your present job. Do the
brain work first, asking yourself a lot of questions.
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If, at the end of trying to make your current situation better,
it is an obvious dead end, then it’s a good time to move on. Maybe
it’s just not a good fit. It’s like a relationship—on paper all the important things seem to add up, but the chemistry just isn’t there to
make it work in reality. Jobs can be that way, too. Just as I’ve hired
people with terrific credentials only to find out it’s simply not a
good match, for them or for me. You have to cut your losses
quickly. That’s a good thing to learn if you want to be successful.
When we hear of extremely successful people, it’s usually safe
to assume they’ve had some obstacles or difficulties along the way.
There’s a lot of trial and error before something is effortless or polished. Michelangelo said something worth thinking about: “If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t
seem so wonderful at all.” The problem is, we usually only see the
end result and not the process.
There was a guy who was a very successful businessman, but
his first passion in life was the piano. He was very dedicated and
disciplined, and he achieved a certain virtuosity, but he finally realized he would never be one of the greats. In other words, he
knew he would never be a Horowitz or a Gould, and he had very
high standards for himself. So he quit the piano and applied himself to business and he became enormously successful. He just
knew he should move on, and he did. He remained a musician in
his private life and maintained a healthy balance for himself with
his interests. He said if he’d remained a pianist, he would have
been frustrated. He did a lot of thinking before he made his move,
but he knew it was the right decision.
It’s not always easy to move on—it’s leaving something behind
in a way, but sometimes what’s ahead will be better. We’ve got to
do things we’re suited for and hopefully that we enjoy. Success is
a great feeling, and success should add to your health, not detract
from it.
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I sometimes tell people they are not cut out to be entrepreneurs because it’s true. Some people are, and some people aren’t.
It will save you a lot of time and hardship if you can figure that
out first. As with anything, you have to see how you handle pressure and the risk factor. It’s similar to going through the set of questions we had at the beginning of this essay. Learn to scrutinize
yourself and your capabilities, and find the time for some thoughtprovoking thinking. As Confucius said, “Learning without thought
is labor lost.” Don’t let that apply to you. Learn, work, and think
in equal proportions, and you’ll be going in the right direction.
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Men are born to succeed,
not fail.
—Henry David Thoreau
}
Keep the
Big Picture
in Mind
ometimes people spend too much time focusing on problems
instead of focusing on opportunities.You have to keep the big
picture in mind even when minding the details or your vision
could become micromanaged in an unnecessary way. I always try
to keep two wavelengths going at once, which prevents brain
cramps and reminds me that I’m destined for success. How do I
know this destiny? Because like Thoreau, I believe we are born to
succeed, not to fail. If I can believe it, you can believe it, too.
Here’s how. First of all, expect problems. Even problems can
be turned around to your advantage, and sometimes surprising
events can happen. When I had some financial problems back in
the 1990s, I remember debating with myself whether or not to attend a black tie dinner at the Waldorf. I certainly didn’t feel like
celebrating anything or talking to anyone, but I got dressed, went
there, and as it turned out I was seated next to someone I really
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clicked with—and he was a banker.The chemistry for great things
was there, and it was the last thing I had expected to happen. I had
been in a negative mindset, but my disciplined side took over, and
without any expectations on my part, things took a decidedly better turn just because I showed up.
Second, you have to remain determined. If you have a big picture in mind, you will need big determination to go with it. The
old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is an apt one. There is no
easy way—much as I’d like to tell you otherwise. But if you are
doing something you love doing, it should not present too much
hardship. Most of us are aware of the tremendous difficulties that
faced people like Michelangelo and Beethoven, yet they prevailed
and they’re still with us centuries later. It helps to know what other
people have faced in accomplishing their goals. A lot of times we
don’t know how much work is required until we get into something, no matter how much research we’ve done, so fortitude is
absolutely necessary.
Then we come to the unexpected—events that happen that
can thoroughly alter our plans, such as earthquakes, wars, natural
disasters, and so forth. Here’s when the theory of adaptability
comes in. Are you able to remain flexible enough to handle catastrophes? Disasters happen, and they aren’t always foreseen. Suddenly our big picture has a new script attached to it! Well, believe
me, you can handle it if you go with the flow and remain determined at the same time.The best thing to remember here is Winston Churchill’s advice to never give up: “Never, never, never, never,
never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force;
never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
We may not be experiencing the blitz, but sometimes when problems start up, it can feel like it. Prepare yourself with strength of
character to withstand discouragements as well as disasters.
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People who have endured great hardship often say they survived because they kept some sort of hope going, a vision of the
future, despite horrible immediate circumstances. They may not
have had a big picture in mind at the time, but they had a semblance of one. Try to emulate their example; it is obviously an effective thought process for survival. Sometimes a dead end can be
a new beginning.
My father used to tell us this story he thought was really funny,
although I never thought it was that funny. I think he was trying
to tell us something about remaining determined. Anyway, it went
like this: A guy loved soda. Just loved soda. So he decided to go
into the business and named his product 3-Up. It was a failure. So
he started over again and named his new product 4-Up. It, too,
failed. So he started again and named his soda 5-Up. Once again,
it failed. Once again, he tried again and named his soda 6-Up, and
it, too, failed. Well, he decided he’d had it with the soda business,
and he gave up. That was the end of my father’s story! As we all
knew, 7-Up became a very successful and famous brand of soda.
So that must’ve been his message to us: The soda guy simply gave
up too soon!
We’ve had some good examples, from Thoreau to Churchill
to my father, so let’s pay attention to them and keep them in mind
in the years to come. I think it will do us all good.
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After all is said and done,
more is said than done.
—Aesop
}
Get the
Best People
You Can
ne of the most important things I’ve learned is to watch
what people do versus listening to what they say. Sometimes,
judging on what I see them doing, I think people have no idea
what they’ve talked about. It reminds me of a split personality, with
the mouth going one way and everything else going the other way.
One big step toward success is to get the two working in tandem.
You will also find out that it will save you a lot of time and energy to become solid.
I’ve said before that every new hire is a gamble because you
never know exactly what you’re getting. Some people with great
credentials don’t deliver, and some people with not so great credentials turn out to be great. There is simply no guarantee when
it comes to people, and watching them in action turns out to be
the proving ground. That’s why on The Apprentice, the candidates
are told they are entering a job interview that will last for months.
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It’s a great way to see potential employees in action versus listening to how great they think they are.
One quality of leadership is knowing your subject. That also
extends itself to knowing people. It’s always a good idea to assume
the worst, because then you might be pleasantly surprised. I’ve
had some solid gold people and some real scoundrels, and somehow it manages to balance out. But my expectations are realistic—
not every person is going to be a perfect match. And no matter how
much you want to trust people, you still have to be a little paranoid.
That sounds tough—and it is—but never expect everything
or everyone to be easy. To be blunt: We all have to watch out for
ourselves. That includes you, and that includes me. It’s best not to
trust people too much, because that’s just setting yourself up for
some nasty surprises. I graduated from college in 1968, so I’ve had
a fair share of experiences with people by now. If I were to tell
you they were all great experiences, I’d be lying. I’ve met the gamut
of personalities, and some of them had some disorders, to put it
nicely. These disorders don’t always surface quickly, so it’s best to
protect yourself from them to begin with. Be circumspect, if not
paranoid, with people.
I’ve had people who have worked for me for over twenty-five
or thirty years, so you may be wondering why I talk about being
paranoid. It’s another way of saying, “don’t take anything for
granted.” I don’t take my solid gold employees for granted because
they don’t take me for granted either. It’s a two-way street and it
works best that way. If you can aim for that, that’s the best way to
go. I have evidence that it can happen.
On the other hand, I’ve had some complete washouts, people who managed to prove themselves to be not only incompetent but untrustworthy. That’s the other side you have to expect
from time to time. To think it won’t happen to you is a big mistake. I have been taken by surprise by certain unexpected behav106
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iors, so now I rein in my expectations, and my equilibrium is
the better for it. A leader needs to know about people to remain
a leader.
Most of us have been exposed to the work of Shakespeare, and
he spends a great deal of time dwelling on the characteristics of
human nature. Some of the examples are extreme, but they aren’t
so far-fetched as to be unbelievable, or Shakespeare wouldn’t still
be performed today.There’s something about his work that is timeless, and the timelessness comes from his insight into human nature. One of his greatest achievements was King Lear, which is a
good lesson in how good intentions don’t always work out for the
best, and it becomes a virtual wipeout while showing the complexities of human relations. That’s a dark example, but it’s better
to be aware than to be unaware of what the world can be like.
On the brighter side, I think most people want to be the best
they can be. That’s probably one reason you’re reading this right
now—you’ve chosen the high road, the path to more knowledge
and experience. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy giving speeches and
teaching—I can share what I know with people who are really
motivated to know more, to do more, and to improve the quality
of their minds and lives. It’s a great feeling. I hope you’ll continue
to expand your life every day.
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It’s not that I’m so smart,
it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
—Albert Einstein
}
Winners See Problems
as Just Another Way
to Prove Themselves
roblems are a mind exercise. Problems can be opportunities.
If you put different names on different things, it’s surprising
how much that can affect your approach to them. Some people
play chess. They see it as a game. It is also an art, a science, and an
exercise in problem solving. But they enjoy it and are passionate
about it. Bobby Fischer, the famed chess champion, answered when
asked about his technique: “I don’t believe in psychology. I believe
in good moves.” He also mentioned that he gave 98 percent of his
mental energy to chess, whereas others gave only 2 percent. That
explains his success. It couldn’t be said—or done—more simply.
Maybe we’re not all chess champions, but we can still learn a
lot about problem solving. There’s the old saying that if you don’t
have problems, then you don’t have a job.They come with the territory of any endeavor. So it’s good to know how to deal with the
inevitable. If the sun rises and the sun sets, there will be problems
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to deal with. I know people who see problems as a game to be
won. I know people who see problems as burdens.That’s just giving yourself another problem to deal with.
We’ve all heard people talk about someone who has “a lot of
baggage,” meaning they’re carrying around a lot of problems with
them.That really isn’t necessary, especially in this age when traveling light is the goal. Try to avoid the gravitational pull of dispensable weight.
When I was doing the first season of The Apprentice, I had limited knowledge of how shows work, how networks operate, and
how shows are rated. Was this a problem? It could have been, but
I saw it all as an opportunity to learn something new. I was the
new kid on the block, and it could have been daunting, but I decided to go for it. It was like a crash course. Had I known that 95
percent of all new television shows fail, I might have thought
twice about it. In that case, what I didn’t know worked for me. I
just put all my concentration into what I was doing, and as problems surfaced, I dealt with them. Think how boring it would be
to just sail into things and have everything be perfect. You can’t
prove your merit on quiet waters, whether you’re a businessman
or a mariner.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “It is a lesson which all history
teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, not circumstances.”That’s
a good way of saying you need to focus on your goals, not your
problems. If people waited for everything to be perfect before attempting anything, the world would be in a sorry state. Maybe I
just like challenges, but I have to say that without a challenge,
I would find the world a little flat. Maybe that’s one reason I like
building skyscrapers.
As a builder, I know that being thorough when it comes to
your problems will greatly reduce them. Being thorough means
being meticulous. Don’t toss off your problems, and don’t dwell
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on them either. Deal with them! Who’s the boss—your problems
or you? Better make sure of your approach on that subject.
If Einstein turned his back on problems, I doubt if he’d be as
quotable as he is today. He admits to staying with problems for a
long time—an indication of his patience and perseverance. He
thought about problems until he had them figured out. In other
words, that’s how he found solutions.That’s a good way to go when
it comes to just about anything. Maybe none of us are an Einstein,
but we can learn from his approach.
If you’ve got some problems today, that’s a good sign. It means
you’re alive for one thing. So give that some thought, and make
the most of that situation.
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Follow your bliss and the universe will open
doors where there were only walls.
—Joseph Campbell
}
Scotland:
You’re Hired!
his story started two years ago and, as of November of 2008,
had a happy ending. I had spent five years reviewing sites
throughout Europe for a golf course and turned down over 200
possibilities for development.Then in 2006 I saw the links land at
Menie Estate, which is in northeast Scotland’s Grampian Region.
I had never seen such a dramatic unspoiled seaside landscape—it
had three miles of spectacular oceanfront and sand dunes of immense proportions. To put it mildly, I was excited. I knew this was
the right place for my golf course, and I had two additional reasons
for that: My mother was born in Scotland, and Scotland is the birthplace of golf.
This would be a labor of love for me, and I couldn’t wait to
get started on my plans. Well, two years later, I can finally get
started. After I got full approval to go ahead, I realized this would
be a great business lesson for you to hear about. It’s about determination and perseverance.
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As soon as my proposed development was announced in 2006,
environmentalists were immediately on guard. In fact, the environmental statement on this estate takes up two five-inch-thick
books. Also, it would be an expensive development, costing one
billion pounds. Anything I do means instant scrutiny, but the scope
of my plans was such that no one thought I would get approval to
go ahead. In short, there were a lot of issues to be dealt with, from
badger and otter protection plans to the economic value to locals.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy. It became such a saga that the BBC
filmed several documentaries and HBO did a feature on the project hosted by Bryant Gumbel. This was going to be a challenge,
but there was no way I was going to give in or give up. When
something matters, it matters.
People were expecting a duel, which I realized, so instead I
offered a partnership approach.We worked with the Scottish National Heritage, and because we had the same concerns, it became
clear that I am environmentally sensitive. I was also inclined to be
sympathetic to the rich history of the area due to my own heritage, and I gave that aspect due respect. I also hired the leading
expert on geomorphology (the study of movement landforms,
such as sand dunes), and we did extensive research on the twentyfive acres of sand dunes on this land. I was thorough and painstaking, which I think was noticed.
The Scottish government held a public inquiry that lasted for
five weeks, and my development had very broad local and business community support. The local politicians were for it, the environmentalists supported us, and a significant point is that the
Scottish ministers also agreed with us. It turns out that it is one of
the largest land-use applications approved in UK history. The
locals were ecstatic, and considering the worldwide economy, I
could understand that.
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I could literally write a book about this development already,
and we’re just getting started. But I have to say this victory is particularly meaningful because it’s been a victory for everyone. Scotland and the locals won, and so did I. We have received tremendous
feedback from people who have watched this development over
the past couple of years remarking on how tenacious we were to
fight that long and that hard for it. There have been thousands of
articles printed about it, and I received countless letters, mostly encouraging me to keep up the good fight. I’m known for being
persistent, but this was and is truly a special case because it has to
do with my roots. Apparently, those roots go very deep.
I made a point to visit my ancestral home (my mother’s house
on the Isle of Lewis) with my sister Maryanne during this time,
which further cemented my determination. I think I surprised
even the die-hards by the battle I fought and won. But it wasn’t
just business—it was personal, too. That can be a formidable
combination.
In honor of my mother, Mary McLeod Trump, I kept the
faith and won. She’s the one who always told me, “Trust in God
and be true to yourself.” I’m glad I listened to her because that
was very wise advice. Scotland has a true Scot behind them all
the way, and Trump International Golf Links will soon grace
the north coast of Scotland.
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Tempo: the rate of motion or activity.
—WEBSTER’S Dictionary
}
Develop
a Tempo When
You’re Working
’ve mentioned before that when you’re the CEO of a company,
it’s like being a general. You have to be in charge, you have to
take responsibility, you have to instill confidence. But it’s also a bit
like being a conductor, which is one reason I mention tempo.
Think about it: An orchestra is comprised of many parts, of many
instruments and players, and when they all work well together, you
will have an exceptionally good orchestra. But the conductor is
the one responsible for the tempo, for the performance, for the
teamwork—it’s very much like having a well-run organization.
I operate quickly, which is allegro to an orchestra. My organization is the orchestra, but I’m the conductor. I’m very well aware
of how important it is to keep the momentum going at all times,
whether you’re in the mood or not. My team will take the cue
from me, and I know it. Learn to develop your own tempo and
stick to it. See it as an inner metronome that keeps consistent time
no matter what’s going on around you.
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People often ask me what makes me tick. I think that’s part of
it—I simply respond to my own tempo, and my mode is working
fast. Maybe yours is slower, maybe it’s even faster, but we all know
what speed is best for us. Stick to that tempo and keep at it. People will learn to plug into that, and you will see faster results because of it. Can you imagine if every musician in the orchestra had
their own idea of what the tempo should be? It’d be cacophony, a
mess. That’s what can destroy businesses, too. Be a good conductor and make sure you’re all in accord on this basic component.
When I conduct a meeting, I’m in charge and I need people
to keep up with me. People who work with me know my tempo,
and they’ve adjusted. New people learn how. No matter what situation or business you are in, be alert to the level of energy around
you—it will help you through every day. So if you’re not in charge
yet, realize it’s your responsibility to take the cue and respond
accordingly.
People talk about being in “the zone” when they reach a certain level of achievement, whether they are runners or writers. It’s
when things come naturally, a sort of synchronicity. I know the
feeling when I am making deals and I see the pieces falling into
place the way they should. It’s something to aim for, and tempo
has a lot to do with it.
For example, you probably all know the feeling of having to
write a term paper. Sometimes it’s not so easy to get started—
maybe you’ve procrastinated, but finally one night you get down
to it and, after awhile, you are producing the pages without a lot
of agony. Thinking about doing it was probably harder than actually getting it done. Something takes over and the work evolves.
A lot of that is tempo, or getting into the groove, and pretty soon
performance takes over and you’re done.
I’ve noticed that some people need a new speedometer because their positive momentum is so slow that they couldn’t pos118
THINK LIKE A CHAMPION
sibly expect to get anywhere. Their tempo is set at a big number
in the minus category somewhere, and they still can’t figure out
why they haven’t arrived anywhere yet. Some people may think
they’re born losers, but a tempo adjustment just might change
that scenario.
There’s another reason I like to use the word tempo. Tempo
also refers to the game of chess; it’s a turn to move in chess in relation to the number of moves required to gain an objective. Note
that it refers to gaining an objective. We all know that chess is a
game of strategy. So is business. Think about that—and develop
a tempo starting today.
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No person who is enthusiastic about his work
has anything to fear from life.
—Samuel Goldwyn
}
You Can Better
Your Best
at Any Time
f you see every day as an important day for your future and a
special day just because you have it, you will be amazed at how
productive and energetic you will be. It’s the best way to be at your
best at all times. Ever say to yourself, “what a great day!”? Say it to
yourself today, right now, and see how your enthusiasm level begins to improve.
That’s the first step, and it helps if you’re already doing something you love doing. Things just work out better that way, and
you won’t have to work very hard at creating momentum or enthusiasm. But no matter how well you’ve done, you can always do
more and do better. That’s how I avoid complacency and how I
maintain a high level of productivity.
For example, after I’d finished Trump Tower and it became a
great success, I knew it was just the beginning, and I was right. I
kept moving forward and later built Trump World Tower at the
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United Nations Plaza, which became another sensational success,
critically and personally.
Maybe I thrive on challenges, but the most significant challenges are the ones you give to yourself. I don’t need to impress anyone at this point, but I do need to satisfy my own goals and ideals.
For example, The Trump Hotel Collection has taken The Trump
Organization international in a short amount of time. It was a natural extension of our brand in the luxury sector of the hotel industry, and Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric have taken the concept
worldwide. It has been exciting to see the growth and success of
this collection, and it didn’t happen because I was already satisfied
with my achievements. I didn’t put a limit on my own horizons.
Don’t ever think you’ve done it all already or that you’ve done
your best. That’s just a shortcut to undermining your own potential. Unless you’ve already kicked the bucket, there’s still a lot more
you can do. We’ve all been around know-it-alls who remind me
of the cynics who know the price of everything and the value of
nothing. Avoid that trap by realizing your own potential and the
intrinsic value of things, including your own efforts to make the day
a great one for yourself—and others.
One task assignment on The Apprentice had the teams giving a
techno expo for senior citizens. Part of the theme was to give back,
so the assignment was given at Trump Place on the Hudson River,
where I have donated a large park to the city of New York. As a
reward, in keeping with our theme of giving back, the winning
team went to a children’s hospital to give presents and spend some
time with the kids. Afterwards, the team members commented that
while working with the seniors was a high, seeing the smiles on
the children was the bonus. They’d been allowed to better their
best effort, and their sincerity was obvious. Everyone had a great
day. So do more, be more, give more—and everyone will benefit.
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It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial
as when they take themselves seriously.
—Oscar Wilde
}
They Thought I
Was Doing So Well
oon after The Apprentice premiered and was a hit show, I became a popular choice for television commercials. I turned a
lot of them down, and I did a few, but one for Visa always remains
in my memory. It was funny and I was allowed to display a selfdeprecating attitude that I think took people by surprise.The surprising thing is that I’m more humble than people might think.
I’m humble enough to be grateful, for one thing, and I still have
a sense of humor about myself.
In this commercial, called “Rooftop,” I am shown on top of
Trump Tower holding my Visa card when a gust of wind blows it
out of my hand and down many scores of floors to the street below,
which happens to be Fifth Avenue. Then I’m seen rummaging
through a Dumpster in search of my lost card, and when a welldressed passerby on Fifth Avenue sees me emerge from the bottom of the Dumpster, she indignantly remarks, “and I thought he
was doing so well!”
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DONALD J. TRUMP
The idea of the ad was to show that I was learning about the
security my Visa card could provide to me.The effect was that I’m
a guy who would go through a Dumpster to make sure of it.
That sums up a lot about how I can be, which makes me a lot
like everyone else, if you think about it. The part I like about some
of the things I’ve done, when I look back, is that I’m not afraid to
be seen as human, because I am.What would you do? What would
I do? There’s a lot we all have in common. Not that it was necessarily due to the protection the card offers—so the second lesson
is that you should know what a product has to offer you to begin
with. It could save you a visit to a Dumpster.
I remember being asked why I would appear on a popular national television show (Saturday Night Live) dressed in a pastel yellow suit in a skit called “Trump’s House of Wings” accompanied
by singing chickens. My answer is, “why not?” I will admit I nixed
the idea of appearing in a chicken costume but the yellow suit I
got in replacement wasn’t exactly a step up. But it was a memorable skit and everyone had fun.
One number you didn’t see on Saturday Night Live and one I
liked a lot, as well, was about a romance novelist who was a real
estate tycoon who lived in a skyscraper on Fifth Avenue. There
were just too many skits and that one got cut. But I think I made
a fine example of the possibilities of romance novels that can be
based on fact. I have a great romantic streak and I live very happily and romantically in my Fifth Avenue apartment.
When I appeared on the Emmy Awards and sang the Green
Acres theme with Megan Mullally, I know a lot of people were
surprised, but we had fun. The same thing happened when I got
into the ring and took a challenge from Vince McMahon of
Wrestlemania. That was a stretch for a real estate developer, but it
was definitely a new experience and one I enjoyed.
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Here’s my point: Don’t be afraid of taking chances. Go for having a good time, because in the process a lot of other people just
might have a good time, too. My theory is: Take your work seriously, take yourself less seriously. It’s a great recipe for some good
times and great memories.
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Being good in business is the most fascinating
kind of art. Making money is art and working is art
and good business is the best art.
—Andy Warhol
}
It’s Not
Personal—It’s
Business
usiness is about making money. It’s about the bottom line.The
sooner you realize that, the sooner you’ll get a grasp about
what business is. I’m very often surprised by people who think
business is something else.They come in with lofty ideas and philanthropic purposes that have absolutely no place in a business
meeting. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.
I remember when a group of businessmen wanted to build an
atrium on the ground floor of 40 Wall Street. It was a beautiful
idea. They wanted to make 40 Wall Street the downtown equivalent of Trump Tower, except they forgot about something. What
would they do with the steel columns that support a seventy-twostory building? That rather major structural component never entered their minds. I hope they didn’t take it personally when I
pointed out their oversight.
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DONALD J. TRUMP
Business is business. For example, if you get fired, there’s usually a number behind it, and that can take the personal affront right
out of it. Businesses have to watch out for their bottom line or
they won’t be in business for very long. Don’t get worked up. If
you do, you might be taking it the wrong way. It isn’t always easy,
but try to be objective.
I learned early on that business can be completely impersonal
even when you’re dealing with human beings. One banker I was
dealing with was so indifferent that he was literally like a machine.
When a machine says no, it’s very tough. There’s no negotiating
possible. I remember writing that you’d be better off dealing with
a killer with real passion than with an institutional type who has
no emotion and just wanted to go home at 5 o’clock. Sometimes
we run into brick walls like that. Our only recourse is to find another way around it, which I did. But I got a good insight into
how impersonal business can be.
I’d rather be personable. It also works better, provides more
options for everyone, and allows for more creativity. It can require
more energy, but I can tell you the results will be worth it. It still
strikes me as funny that I suddenly became very popular after I
started firing people every week on national television. People really liked me for that. Or so I thought. What it was is that they
were seeing the real person behind the famous name.They see that
I can be tough but that I try to be impartial. I’m also a bit of a
teacher. I’ve always been this way, but it was never seen before except by my employees. I’m personable, but I can be all business.
Believe me, it’s a formidable combination.
I have to be careful not to blow people away, because if you
cross me personally and professionally, I’ll have a double whammy
waiting for you. I don’t enjoy being vicious, but sometimes in selfdefense it becomes necessary. I don’t like the double standard, as
in, whatever I do is okay and whatever you do isn’t okay, or vice
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versa. If you treat me a certain way, then I can treat you that way,
too. Some people call that the old “an eye for an eye” approach,
but I call it playing fair. Sometimes the only way to deal with a
bully is to punch him back. Let them know who they’re dealing
with. Fair play is fair play—and once again, don’t take it personally.
It’s wise to be circumspect, and some people just say “get yourself out of the picture” first in order to see the big picture. Don’t
take personally what is not meant personally. A lot of times people misdirect their anger, and if you take it personally, you’ll become a punching bag for angry darts. I’ve had people say totally
off-the-wall things to me, which I can now deflect, knowing that
about 90 percent of the time their comments have next to nothing to do with me.You have to develop a thick skin, and keep your
own positive wavelength going at all times.
Be tough, be smart, be personable, but don’t take things personally. That’s good business.
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
—Albert Einstein
}
Think Like
a Genius
very morning I read a variety of newspapers, from local to national to international.This group includes the Financial Times
of the UK, the New York Times, the New York Post, the Wall Street
Journal, and more. Then I tune into the morning news programs
on television. By the time I get to the office, I have a good
overview of what’s happening in the world. Considering what has
been happening lately, this kind of attention is absolutely necessary. It’s also necessary for us to begin to think creatively.
I live and work in the same building, so I have a very short
commute and rarely run into traffic, and that is a tremendous time
saver.What I do is quickly assemble what I’ve just read about and
heard, and then I see how it pertains to any of the businesses I have
or deals I have in process. I also get updates throughout the day
on what is happening, both nationally and worldwide.There is no
way you can be effective without being informed, and this is more
important today than ever.
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Control is about education. Lack of education or information
can put you at bigger risk for losing control. Of course, there are
things we can’t control and there is an element of risk in our lives
that we can’t deny or overrule. But brain power equals a very powerful leverage. That doesn’t equal being a know-it-all. I’m known
as someone who asks a lot of questions. With the economic crisis
causing major problems here and some big ripples around the globe,
it seems some very informed yet creative thinking is in order.
Recently I read an article about some famed geniuses who included Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, and Einstein. Aristotle held
metaphorical thinking in high esteem, Einstein found visualization to be helpful in solving problems, and da Vinci believed in restructuring a problem to make it more accessible or broader in
scope. I realized that I did all of these things, but not necessarily
deliberately.
All of them believed in chance. In fact, they prepared themselves
for it and “creative accidents” would result, some of which have produced wonderful inventions. All of them kept an open mind and
were full of a sense of wonder. I mention these components because
each of them can be applied to business with some great results.
Sometimes people ask me how I do what I do. I don’t always
have an answer because part of the process is difficult to describe,
but when I saw these points in the article, I realized that is definitely similar to what I go through to arrive at certain decisions.
All of us have creative powers, so devote some time to learning
about this process.
Someone asked me if I thought I was a genius. I decided to
say yes. Why not? Try it out. Tell yourself that you are a genius.
Right away you will probably wonder why and in what way you
are a genius. And right away you will have opened your mind up
to wonder—and to asking questions.That’s a big first step to thinking like a genius, and it might unlock some of your hidden talents.
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Another point made was that geniuses tend to produce. They
are prolific. Not everything will be fantastic and mistakes will be
made, but they have a huge volume of work to show for their brain
power and their mastery of the thought process. Einstein mentioned that numbers and words had little to do with his thought
process because he had learned to visualize.Yet he published hundreds of papers in the course of his career.
Another characteristic that geniuses tend to share is the ability
to think in opposites. This is outside the boundaries of logic and
allows your mind to operate on a new level. When it comes to
business, this can be tremendously helpful as it’s one way to see
the ups and downs, the cycles, of finance and real estate, and know
that as they happen, they can be dealt with.
Do not underestimate yourself, and know you are able to handle what comes your way. Just increase your leverage by learning
to think like a genius. And remember Einstein’s words: “Anyone
who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
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Great minds have purposes,
others have wishes.
—Washington Irving
}
Go Against the Tide
he world is rich with examples of originality. Original means
independent and creative in thought and action. Nowadays
we call it thinking outside the box, although the term supposedly
derives from a puzzle created by an early-twentieth-century British
mathematician. Whatever you call it, it very often means going
against the tide, which may not be the easiest way to go. But
sometimes the easiest way is also the mediocre way, and that’s
okay if that’s your standard. But it isn’t mine, and it most likely
isn’t yours either if you’re taking the time to read this book.
When I was starting out in real estate, my father thought I was
nuts to want to build in Manhattan. I was going against the tide, and
I knew I was up against some pretty big odds, but I wanted to carve
my own niche. I had my own ideas and knew I’d have to be independent as well as creative to see them happen. I’m certainly happy
I decided to take the chance and to go for it. It would have been
easier for me to just stay with the family business and leave it at that.
Fortunately, I had a good education and experience behind
me. I always warn people not to jump into anything unprepared.
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It’s that old fine line between bravery and stupidity. Know the tides
before you dive in.There’s always a certain amount of danger, danger meaning the unknown, even in shallow waters. Riptides and
sharks exist. Sometimes you don’t see them until it’s too late. Keep
that in mind no matter how sensational or foolproof you think
your idea might be.
Charles de Gaulle is a figure of historic importance, especially
as it pertains to World War II, and he came from a family of historians and writers. In fact, his father taught literature and philosophy. But the young Charles de Gaulle had a passionate interest
in military matters, and he was determined in every respect to pursue this unexpected passion. He was a force in world history
known for his extraordinary stubbornness. He became known as
“the man who said no” when he refused to accept the terms of
the armistice with Nazi Germany. When he said no, he meant it.
There was no equivocating. I don’t know all the details of his early
life, but I can imagine a boy from a family of intellectuals might
have experienced some scrutiny when he displayed an intense interest in all things military. But he knew what he wanted to do, and
he followed his own path.
It’s a good idea to take your own pulse once in awhile instead
of just focusing on what the masses are doing. Take a break from
expectations, from the media, and plug into yourself. You might
find that your electricity is better suited to another socket. You
might have to exert yourself, but look at the alternatives that remain. Get out of your so-called comfort zone. I call it complacency, and it’s a good way to get nowhere.
I remember firing someone who once said “I think it’s
good enough” when referring to project he was working on. Good
enough? It wasn’t good enough for me, and if it was good enough
for him, he shouldn’t be working for me. I want people who
will go the extra mile to make it the best. Don’t be so easily
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pleased—with yourself or with anything else. Be tough and keep
your standards high, even if you have to fight the undertow.
We use the term “groundbreaking” in construction when a
new building is about to begin construction.That term is also used
to describe something that is new and creative, as in setting a new
standard. Make your life as groundbreaking as possible, while also
minding the tides and riptides around you. It’s a good way to wind
up on top.
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Great works are performed not by
strength but by perseverance.
—Samuel Johnson
}
Think
Positively
here have been so many books and examples about the power
of positive thinking that it seems unnecessary to even mention it. But I still see examples every single day of the power that
negative thinking has over people, so either people haven’t gotten
the message or they’re just plain not paying attention.
When I started thinking about this essay, I realized that maybe
people just don’t have the persistence required to make positive
thinking work for them.Things rarely just happen overnight. Most
overnight success stories are no such thing. Just because you only
recently heard of someone doesn’t mean they haven’t been working for twenty or thirty years or more already.When my television
show, The Apprentice, became a big hit, I had over thirty years of
experience to draw upon when conducting the boardroom scenes.
It wasn’t just a fluke that I came across as someone who knew what
they were doing.The fact that I was on television was new, but the
rest wasn’t particularly new to me. Business is business, whether
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it’s being filmed or not. My business credentials and experience
came into the picture as the necessary background for creating a
show based on high-stake New York corporate business.
How does positive thinking fit into this Apprentice scenario?
First of all, I didn’t say no. I knew it was a risk, but I was positive
about what might happen. If I’d chosen to listen solely to the negatives about the endeavor, such as “most new TV shows fail” or
“reality TV is on the way out” or “you’ll lose your credibility”
or “you’ll lose your grasp on your business empire” and about fifty
other negatives, I never would have given it a thought. But instead,
I chose a positive perspective. I asked myself the “what if ” question. What if it was a success? What if I enjoyed it? What if it
proved to be enlightening? What if it brought The Trump Organization the recognition it deserved? What if the jobs provided
to the winners proved to be valuable stepping stones to deserving individuals? I had a long list of positives to go along with the
negatives.
I’m a pragmatic positive thinker. When I hear people saying
that anything you want to do is possible, that seems childish or at
least uninformed to me. Some things are not going to happen. For
example, if I suddenly decided tomorrow that I wanted to win a
gold medal at the Olympics as a swimmer, and I was sure I could
because I was so positive about it, well, I think I’d have to have
some mental checks. It’s not going to happen, no matter how hard
I train. Or if I decided I was going to give Tiger Woods a run for
his money as a golfer, starting tomorrow, I think I’d have to worry
about being a little irrational. Be positive, but be realistic.
Back to the persistence issue.You have to be positive every single day.You have to put a daily effort into it, because believe me,
no one else is going to help you with this. Most people think their
lives will be easier if they have less competition.The fact that you
believe in yourself could get in their way. Good. Get in their way!
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Upset their status quo! Get out of your own static comfort zone
by moving forward with the momentum and power that positive
thinking and perseverance can give you.This takes energy, but the
result will be stamina—positive stamina, a necessary ingredient
for success.
Sometimes you just have to be tough. I use the example of a
brick wall. Is there a brick wall getting in your way? Fine. That
happens. But you have a choice.You can walk away from the wall.
You can go over the wall.You can go under the wall.You can go
around the wall.You can also obliterate the wall. In other words,
don’t let anything get in your way. Get a balance, and then let the
positive outdistance the negative.
When I was building Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff
Manor, New York, I wanted to build a 110-foot waterfall. It pumps
5,000 gallons of water per minute and cost $7 million to complete. We moved granite and many tons of earth to achieve this
spectacular effect, and if you think this happened easily and
overnight, think again. But I was positive, I was persistent, and I
refused to settle for anything less than what I had envisioned.The
result was worth the effort, and not surprisingly, perseverance won.
Keep that in mind in all your endeavors.
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Men acquire a particular quality by
constantly acting in a particular way.
—Aristotle
}
People Have
Different Ways of
Achieving Results
e all have different ways of accomplishing things. Some
people deliberate for a long time and then move quickly,
some people make a quick decision and then take a long time getting around to doing something about it. Sometimes the results
are exactly the same.The old saying “to each his own” is right because there is no right way or wrong way.
As an example, I like the story about a copywriter who would
spend most of his time looking like he wasn’t doing anything. He
would gaze out the window for hours, sit doing nothing, and made
no attempt to look busy.This drove his co-workers up the wall, so
they finally complained to the boss. The boss became very interested in this report, asked them how long this behavior had been
going on, and then told them all to see if they could get him coffee or lunch, anything to make sure his day wasn’t interrupted.
They became irate over this preferential treatment, so the boss told
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them, “The last time he acted like this, and the time before, and
the time before, he came up with ideas worth millions of dollars.
So whatever you do, don’t disturb him!” You see—to each his
own. We all have our own process. The results are what matter.
If someone wanted to review my work process, they might
very easily say, “Well, he spends a lot of time on the telephone.”
That’s true, I’m on the phone and talking a lot. But that’s how I
do a lot of business. It’s not that I’m just chatting on the phone all
day. It all depends on the way you want to see something or someone. You can color the situation or behavior in a favorable or unfavorable light. But bottom line, I get a lot accomplished. That’s
my style. If you want to say that all I do is have daily chat fests and
still manage to rake in the big bucks, that’s fine with me. My
achievements still point toward effectiveness.
Find the most productive way of working for yourself. I don’t
mind working hard, but I see no merit in working stupidly. Looking like you’re working hard is a waste of everyone’s time and talent. What’s the best way to accomplish your goals for that day?
Some people work very hard for several hours and accomplish
more than other people do in two days. It’s all a matter of focus.
After awhile, people will know you by your habits—or your
habitual behavior.These habits can be qualities, as Aristotle points
out. If your behavior is consistently of a high standard, your particular quality may be integrity. That’s a good way to go. So review your habits and make sure they are leading you in the right
direction. In other words, make sure you are working toward the
results you want to see, and know that your way of achieving them
will be distinctly your way. It’s also a great way to define your own
boundaries without being influenced negatively by anyone else.
As a young man, I remember when someone once told
me that the clearest way to see people and events was to be
nonjudgmental—to just see and record the facts without coloring
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them with “this is right” or “this is wrong” or telegraphing the
desired reaction to other people. It’s a journalistic approach—
journalism in its purest sense—that allows the decision to be made
entirely by the individual. In other words, news without a slant. It
requires a little more thinking, but sometimes I think we need to
do a little bit more of that these days.
We should never think our way is the only way, whether we’re
talking about work ethics or politics. We should be grateful for the
diversity we have in our lives and take the time to hone our own
natural talents. Sometimes we don’t know how long or how hard
someone has worked to achieve something. Warren Buffet has a fortune worth many billions of dollars now, but he started out selling
chewing gum when he was six years old. He made two cents a pack.
Results are what matter.The bottom line is clearly the bottom
line. It’s not always a straight line to achieving the results we are
looking for, but rather a series of efforts that will add up to experience and achievement. Look at how many years scientists will
work toward a discovery and you will understand how patience is
one of the ingredients for success. So set your pattern now for
achievement of the highest quality. That’s your task assignment
for the long term.
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Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path
and leave a trail.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
}
Discover and
Live Your Purpose
ne thing I’ve learned about life is that it is a series of discoveries. It starts with discoveries and hopefully should continue that way. Remember how exciting it was to learn to ride a
bike? Ever watched a child taking their first steps? It’s a momentous occasion. If we can capture that kind of excitement every day,
I think we’re on our way to wisdom.
Albert Einstein said, “The mind that opens to a new idea never
comes back to its original size.” I agree. Once you’ve learned to
walk, why would you want to go back to crawling around? It
wouldn’t make sense.We all have a purpose in life, and that’s to do
our best to live up to our potential.
It’s really pretty simple. All we have to do is tune in to our
talents and capabilities. Remember, I didn’t say it was easy—I said
it was simple. Sometimes we get so distracted that it’s hard to tune
out enough to be able to tune in at all. We are bombarded by
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outside information all day.The challenge here is to find the quiet
time to be able to assimilate our own inside information in the
midst of all the cacophony.You have to unplug before you can plug
yourself back in.
I’m a busy guy, but I set aside quiet time every morning and
every evening to keep my equilibrium as it should be—which is
centered on my own path. I don’t like being swayed by anything
that might be negative or damaging. When Emerson talks about
leaving a trail, he’s right. That means you can’t be following someone else’s path.That means you’d better spend some time focusing
yourself on your own path and your own purpose.
This is a serious issue, for worldly as well as personal reasons.
The worst things in history have happened when people stop
thinking for themselves and listen to other people and, even worse,
start following other people. That’s what gives rise to dictators.
Avoid that at all costs. Stop it first on a personal level and you will
have contributed to world sanity as well as your own.
In business, I’ve discovered that my purpose is to do my best,
to my utmost ability, every day. That’s my standard. I learned early
in my life that I had high standards. Ever hear of intrinsic value? Intrinsic means basic, inborn, elemental. If you have an intrinsic value,
it cannot be taken away or shaken. It’s a form of strength that can
be unbeatable.
Discovery means finding out something we didn’t previously
know. Purpose is an intention or an end to be attained. We have
the tangible and the intangible in life. Let them balance each other
out to your best advantage. I may be in a reality-based business,
but I have a sense of the mystery in life that keeps me feeling like
an explorer. Don’t put blinders or borders on yourself.
I could have very easily dismissed Mark Burnett’s idea for The
Apprentice simply based on the fact that I was already very busy.
But it was a new challenge and a new discovery for me. It served
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a part of my nature, which is that of an educator. Finding your purpose may be a lifelong pursuit or you may have found it when you
were five years old.There’s no absolute timeline for anyone.That’s
a good reason to never give up, to keep on discovering things every
day. It’s also a terrific recipe for a successful life. Following your
own path will bring you to the places you were meant to be. Expand your horizons! In other words, think big and live large.
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Freedom is not the right to live as we please,
but the right to find how we ought to live
in order to fulfill our potential.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
}
Set the Standard
eople who work for me know that my media persona of
being positive and enthusiastic isn’t just a façade. I am that
way—from the inside out. I have big ideas and a big enough energy resource to get them done. Those who are around me will
eventually catch on that that is how I operate. It’s an effective approach that obviously works. It’s contagious in the best sense of
the word. One thing everyone knows about The Trump Organization is that we get things done and our energy level is one reason why. I’ve set the standard and everyone follows suit.
If you like to work hard, you will attract people with the same
ethic. The people who work with me enjoy the daily challenges
and set their own standards to meet those challenges. Their pattern of thinking matches mine—how do we accomplish more?
How do we get to where we want to go? It’s a combination of vision, courage, and discipline to realize that the possibilities are always there. But if you’re thinking too small, you might miss them.
Learn to think big.
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Ask yourself this question: What standard would you like to
be known for? Then go about setting that standard for yourself.
No one else can set it for you. I can remember when my father
couldn’t understand why I wanted to develop in Manhattan. I’d
had my eye on Manhattan since I was in college, and it was a goal
I intended to reach.Years later, when I was describing my ideas for
Trump Tower to my father, including the glass and bronze exterior, he couldn’t understand why I would choose anything other
than bricks to build with. Bricks worked for him, so why not for
me? Because I was setting my own standard. When Trump Tower
opened to wonderful reviews and became a landmark building, it
was clear that my standard had been accepted—and in a big way.
I had also been advised to put up beautiful paintings in the
lobby of Trump Tower.To me, this seemed old-fashioned and unoriginal, even though I like beautiful art. I decided to put up a
waterfall, which to me is like a sculpture in itself, and it has attracted far more attention than if I’d put up paintings. It’s over
eighty feet high and cost $2 million to build. It’s absolutely spectacular and I’ve never regretted my choice. Once again I was setting my own standard.
When I decided to rebuild Wollman Rink in Central Park, I
did so with my own ethics in mind. Do the best job as quickly as
possible for the least amount of money. The city had been trying
for seven years to rebuild and restore this beautiful skating rink,
and I finally interceded and finished it in three months and at less
than 10 percent of the City’s $21 million cost. Everyone benefited.
Those are my standards, and I met them. I have my father’s fourstep formula to thank for my economy when doing a job: Get in,
get it done, get it done right, and get out.
A question I would ask you to ask yourself to give you a jump
start in thinking big is this:What is your creative capital? What do
you have to offer? What have you acquired in your experience and
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in your studies that makes you valuable? Are you aware of your
own potential? Will you be equipped to make a difference when
the time comes for you to step forward? Start thinking along those
lines and your worth will have already been multiplied.
A few years ago, probably in 2005, I received a phone call from
Coach Mike Leach, calling to say how much he liked my books
because they were inspirational. I follow college football, so I knew
he was the coach for Texas Tech, and a great one. We had a conversation and I realized we shared a few things in common as far
as motivation and positive focus go. Since then I’ve appeared on
ESPN for his team and he’s appeared on 60 Minutes. I mention
him because there are some good reasons why Coach Leach is
in the big leagues as far as great coaches go—he knows how to
get the best from his players, he has an open mind, and he knows
that being a coach means being able to teach others to think in
new directions. That means their performance will be altered as
well. Coach Leach knows what he’s doing and how to do it, and
he recognizes and develops the potential in other people. He’s a
great guy in addition to being a success.
Maybe you don’t have a coach in your life, but if set your own
standards, acknowledge your own value, and remain positive from
the inside out, you will heading in the right direction for a very
promising future.
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Intuition is perception
via the unconscious.
—Carl Jung
}
Go with Your Gut
e’ve all heard of instincts, intuition, and perception. In fact,
all of us have these things.The important thing is to know
how to use them.You may have superb academic credentials, but
without using your instincts you might have a hard time getting
to—and staying at—the top.
This is one of those gray areas that remain an enigma even to
those who have finely honed business skills. It’s hard to pin down
or to explain how business instincts are acquired. Some of them
are inexplicable. But there are signs that can guide you to or away
from certain deals and certain people.
For example, within a few seconds of meeting Mark Burnett,
the creator of The Apprentice, I knew he was 100 percent solid, both
as a person and as a professional. On the other hand, I’ve met people that I have an aversion to for no particular reason, and while I
try not to be judgmental, I have reason by now to trust my gut.
Carl Jung said our conscious minds use only 5 percent of our brain
power for daily functioning. If we can learn to tap into that unconscious, subconscious, and dormant 95 percent, the results can
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be amazing. Sometimes I think that’s what helps our perceptive
abilities come to our aid.
It’s also a matter of tuning in. Ever notice how when we are
in a situation that produces heightened alertness, whether it’s a survival course or trying to pass an important exam, how careful we
are in our responses? Suddenly, everything we say or do matters a
lot. That’s one way to notice how our instincts are there for us.
Logic may say one thing, instincts may say another. Ideally, you
should hone the best of both to make the best decisions.
I remember when I was acquiring 40 Wall Street, and literally
every person I met with recommended that it be turned into residential units. I didn’t agree. My gut instincts told me it was a great
business location. I remained steadfast in my beliefs and the building
now houses businesses that are thriving. It’s been a lucrative deal for
everyone, and 40 Wall Street is now worth in excess of $500 million.
When I was first starting out with my golf courses, my instincts
told me it was a good direction to go. Logically, I knew that I had
a passion for golf already, which is a crucial element for success, and
that if I combined that with knowledge of the process, I’d have my
bases covered. I found the best golf course designers in the world
and spent many hours working with them. The results have been
tremendous. I paired both instinct and logic to get these results.
Just as you would weigh your decisions carefully, be alert to your
instincts and what they are trying to tell you. Spend some time with
this innate aspect of yourself. See handling your instincts as an acquired skill—they can give you an edge in many situations, business
or otherwise.There are a lot of things we can’t see or hear, and our
instincts are there to guide us. For example, if you were in the jungle, which would you prefer, a map or a guide? I know I’d feel more
comfortable with a guide.A guide has experience and is right there
beside you.Your instincts are within you, so use them accordingly.
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Be sincere; be brief; be seated.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
}
Know Your
Audience
big key to winning is knowing where the other side is coming from.Whether you are involved in negotiations, a war, or
in public speaking, this information can be invaluable. It’s also necessary if you hope to connect in any way with other people. And
in keeping with FDR’s public speaking advice, getting to the point
is greatly appreciated by everyone.
A great portion of life and business involves acting. Life is a
performance art, no matter what field you are in. I’ve come to understand that fact over the years, and it’s a helpful thing to realize.
It includes people skills, negotiation skills, public relations, salesmanship, and the ability to read your audience, whether that audience is four people in your office or forty thousand at a speech.
The same technique applies.
First of all, consider this: Is there a common denominator between you? Sometimes, even the weather can be a good starting
point. Inclement or severe weather can affect all of us, whether we
are billionaires or college students. That’s an obvious one. Others
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take more time to determine. I can remember negotiating with
someone I didn’t like very much, which put up an invisible wall
between us, until I discovered he was an avid golfer like myself.
We suddenly had something to talk about that we both enjoyed,
and proceedings went better after that.
I’ve heard many stories of how people end up with terrific
jobs, not because of their college grades, but because of their hobbies and endeavors outside of their field. Granted, they had the
credentials, but so do a lot of people.The people in charge of hiring were looking for something else, something extra—a common
denominator aside from the obvious requirements. I know a young
lawyer who was hired by a top law firm because in addition to
doing well in law school, he also had a master’s degree in music.
This mattered because the partner doing the hiring happened to
be a musicologist in his private time, and he was aware of the
amount of discipline a degree in music requires. But it would also
provide them with a mutual interest outside the usual legal environment that would enhance their daily routine.
Comedians know how to plug into their audience. The best
public speakers know how to do that, too. Step number one is to
know who your audience is. In my book How to Get Rich, I mention the common denominator as a way to relate to people. Ask
yourself, what do we all have in common? I may be a billionaire,
but I get stuck in traffic jams, too. I have bad days just like everyone else. Realize that a lot of your experiences can be understood
and appreciated by your audience because they’ve had them, too.
Make an effort to find what you have in common and lead with
it. You will create a bond that didn’t exist before if you will take
the time to think about it.
I recently spoke to an audience of about 40,000 people. Afterwards, a member of my staff asked me if I ever got nervous. I
said that I had finally realized that a large part of life was acting,
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and public speaking was just a part of that. I also thought about
the people who would be in the audience instead of my own performance. That perspective frees you up from nervousness to allow
you to focus on and know your audience.
Save yourself from some unnecessary learning experiences and
realize that life is a performance art. Understand that as a performer, you have a responsibility to your audience to perform to
the best of your ability. You also have to have the goods to hold
your audience, no matter what the size may be. Performers prepare for every performance. That’s showmanship, and that’s life.
Prepare yourself every day. Learn, know, and show. It’s a proven
formula. Put it to use starting today.
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2009 will not be the Endless Summer—
but it may be the beginning of Spring.
—Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.
}
The Good,
the Bad, and the
Rogue Wave
y friend Tom Barrack of Colony Capital is a brilliant guy,
and he sent me an article he wrote in late November of
2008 with the headline: “Today’s Debt is Equity Plus a Few
Suggestions to Help President-Elect Obama Ease the Pain.” He
bullet-pointed the latest events pertaining to the economy—
twenty-two of them—and I realized that at any other time, just a
few of these would be huge topics in themselves. It’s a good indication of how alert we need to be.
His CliffsNotes summary: “Real estate is experiencing a seismic liquidity shock as a result of a complete closure of the credit
and capital markets for both debt and equity. CRE (commercial
real estate) and the debt which fueled its growth are in a massive
meltdown.”
Then he adds: “And just when we thought that all of the unpredictables had passed—a tribe of African pirates in speed boats
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hijack a Saudi tanker for ransom—a satirical headline read:‘Somali
Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup.’”
All this and pirates, too. Somehow it helps to know the world
hasn’t changed all that much if pirates are still out there doing their
thing.That’s one take on it.The other take is that vigilance is certainly necessary in every walk or strait of life—which brings me
to the topic of Bernard Madoff and his scheme that came to our
attention in December of 2008.
I can remember when Bernard Madoff would approach me in
Palm Beach, Florida, about investing some money with him. He’d
say “Why don’t you invest in my fund?” I didn’t know much about
him and I’m not a fund guy so I said no. I had enough going on
in my own businesses that I didn’t need to be associated or involved with his. Madoff was a frequent visitor at my Mar-a-Lago
Club, and he was a respected guy.
I know people who have been victims of his unscrupulous
scheme and what’s happened to them is dreadful. He is without a
doubt a sleazebag and a scoundrel without par. The sad thing is
that so many people trusted him and unfortunately some of them
trusted him completely. Some people gave 100 percent of their
money to this guy, and now they’re literally selling their houses in
order to live. It’s a great lesson in doing your due diligence. Some
very smart people were taken in by him. Just because someone is
well established doesn’t mean they’re not above being a total crook.
He was a Svengali for rich people and he could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars after just one phone call.
Even the people in his own organization supposedly didn’t
know about it, nor did his sons, he claims. He had several floors in
a major office building. How could one man be manipulating
that much money without at least some of the people knowing
about it? The word here is greed. He certainly “made off ” with
some big bucks.
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I know people are stunned by their losses and rightly so. I think
we would all do well to pay heed to all of our transactions no matter how much we might respect or like someone. But the main lesson is never to invest 100 percent of your money with one person
or in one entity. Even if someone or something is great, you can’t
bet the ranch on it, especially a person—they can become dishonest or they can become sick. In Madoff ’s case I think it was a combination of both. But you’ve got to spread your money around with
numerous people, or at least three or four.You can’t have your wellbeing determined by one person. My CliffsNotes summary: There
are no guarantees but there are precautions. Do not let your guard
down. Focus on the positives—but don’t forget about the pirates.
The Rogue Wave
In January,Tom Barrack sent me his notes for a 2009 Survival Kit.
I am sharing them with you because he tells a great story and he
has an equally great insight in applying it to what’s been going on.
Included here are the first two pages of his four page essay, and I
hope everyone will give this their full attention:
The constant turmoil of the recent market is reminiscent of
a story Laird Hamilton shared with us at our last annual
meeting. No one has mastered the art of living more than
Laird. He has spent his life in preparation and anticipation
of riding big waves. The biggest waves in the Hawaiian Islands occur on Maui at a surf spot named Jaws.These waves
reach 50 to 70 feet and can only be ridden by a few daring
professionals utilizing “tow in surfing.” Tow in surfing was
invented to “turbo charge” the entry speed of a surfer to
match the speed of the mountainous walls of fury which
would otherwise be unconquerable by traditional paddling
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techniques.Tow in will take you deeper and faster and allow
you to ride waves that were unthinkable. A little bit like
leveraged loans and derivatives in leveraged buy out land.
One morning Laird and one of his surfing mates,
Brock Lickle, were in search of bigger waves and less surfers.
They pulled around the corner from Jaws to a spot near
the Maui airport which was virgin territory and breaking
at 60 to 100 feet wave heights.They watched, analyzed and
thought these just might be the waves of the decade. Even
though there was no one else in the water they started to
sea, racing up the huge wave faces and pounding through
white water trying to get through the treacherous break.
Just as they thought they had made it through the impact
zone they looked to the horizon and saw a rogue wave
roaring towards shore.They raced as hard as they could towards its looming face, but couldn’t climb it in time and
were tossed like rag dolls to the depths of the dangerous
coral reefs. Laird related that he was no longer afraid at
these moments because he had been in so many fearful situations in his decades of preparation that this was now his
comfort zone. Both were the best in the world and knew
that survival depended upon a few basic elements:
} Remain calm—don’t panic
} Save your “dry powder” (air)
} Don’t fight the current—let it have its way with you
} Don’t question your ability to survive—know that
you have trained and prepared a lifetime for this
moment
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} Remember when you get to the top, the another
wave will no doubt pound you again
} Monitor all conditions—sight, sound, smell, motion,
pressure
} Stabilize your own situation then look out for your
buddy
} Once you find your buddy, survival will depend on
both of you sharing the pain
Laird and Brock had to hold their breath for up to four
minutes as they dove to the bottom trying to avoid their
limbs being ripped apart by the ferocious impact as wave
after wave kept coming at them. Finally, Laird made it to
the top of the last wave of the set and anxiously searched
for his buddy. He saw Brock floating 200 yards away in a
pool of blood and no jet ski. He swam through the washing machine to Brock to find him badly injured and bleeding. Before Laird could get them both to shore he had to
take off his wetsuit and, in MacGyver-like fashion, use it
as a tourniquet on his buddy’s nearly severed leg. He then
wrapped his arms around Brock and swam them both to
the jet ski bobbing in the crashing surf. He threw Brock
on top and opened throttle to shore. Of course, the shore
break was 30 feet high so the landing on the beach was the
next heroic act. Laird picked his spot, gunned the jet ski,
flew over the top of the wave and landed in the parking
lot, which was now filled with hundreds of spectators.
Laird pulled Brock off the jet ski to safety and then standing on shore realized that he was stark naked.
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Once Brock was turned over to the emergency team
and it was established that he would be okay, Laird grabbed
another teammate and a new jet ski and marched back out
into the monumental surf. He was not fearful. He got back
on the horse (or jet ski in this case) and caught some of
the best waves of his life. By taking the worst wipeout of
his life he was now better equipped than those other professionals who had been watching unscathed from the
parking lot.
HUMBLING 2008
2008 has been a year filled with surprises, volatility, disappointment, unfulfilled expectations and cyclic shock
waves. As a new year dawns, I think it is important that
we take a deep breath, relax and focus on the ingredients
that are key to our continued survival. We must get back
on the horse.
My boys share Laird’s love of surfing and in order
to convince them to spend time with Dad, it requires
Christmas vacations that involve waves. Being in the ocean
watching the never-ending changes in the sea allows me
to reflect on the similarity of the survival tools needed in
these chaotic times.
The first great lesson is that of humility. No matter
how good you are, when arrogance raises its ugly head,
Mother Nature will put you back into your box. Mastery
of a wave involves being attuned to all the circumstances
surrounding you. It is not about domination—it is actually about submission.The currents, the riptides, the swell,
the wind, the reefs, the temperature, the crowds, the shapes
are changing every second. The quest, then, is not to stabilize the wave and make each one exactly alike and pre166
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dictable by all, but rather to perfect your own adaptability
to an ever-changing situation and make it through to the
other end. If you can survive, great. If you have executed
it with style and grace, even better. In this quest, wipeouts
are a way of life and planning to never be wiped out is
foolhardy at best. World-class surfers train endlessly to be
able to handle the inevitable trip to the “dark room.” It involves preparation, anticipation, calmness and an ability to
control one’s fear. It is knowing what to do when everything goes wrong and you are gasping for breath. What
surfers call “dry drowning”—to panic, flail and waste your
valuable breath—is the worst thing you can do, even though
it is the most intuitive. Experienced surfers concentrate on
relaxing and not fighting the bone-crushing power of the
wave until it relinquishes its force. They must be able to
preserve their “dry powder”—to hold their breath and
avoid being smashed on the coral reefs beneath them.This
confidence comes from experience in previous wipeouts
and a knowledge that they are truly prepared for the worst.
Furthermore, one surfer’s wipeout is another surfer’s
“wave of the day.” It is all about anticipation and being in
the right position, which is not necessarily the position
that the rest of the surfers are seeking. Not following the
crowds can be the difference between victory and defeat.
At the same, time one must watch the crowd and where
it’s going as their amateur moves can cause more damage
than the wave alone.
The great surfers do not throw away their trained
“tool kit” to harness differing wave conditions.They adapt
to the circumstances which they are dealt. Their commitment and dedication are steadfast. They will wait for their
spot and pay attention to everyone and everything around
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them using all of their senses.Those senses are defined and
refined by instincts born from repetition—riding thousands and thousands of previous waves in all conditions.
They will first concentrate on surviving, then positioning,
then dominating the next wave.
Investing at this moment feels exactly the same. The
sea is swirling, the currents are crossed, the swells are ebbing
and flowing, the novices are drowning and there is grand
wipeout after grand wipeout of some of the great names,
which is intimidating and daunting to all.
Now is that moment for investing. Now is that moment when private equity has its greatest opportunity and
its greatest challenge.The turbulence we have experienced
in 2008 will dictate the circumstances for new investments,
which will surely find historically high returns. History has
shown that private equity returns soar at these deep inflection points in stabilized markets. Following the downturns in the early ’90s and 2000s, returns were upwards of
25% for US private equity firms.
My thanks to Tom Barrack for his consistently great insights.
Let’s all remember to be champions in every situation and in all
conditions—starting right now.
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You can’t build a reputation
on what you are going to do.
—Henry Ford
}
Building Your
Reputation
’ve been building the Trump brand for several decades, and my
three eldest children are now with The Trump Organization,
helping to expand our brand. Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric are all here
now. They are my real Apprentices, and they’re doing a great job.
They know that I’m demanding, but they are disciplined and very
hard workers, so they are a good fit with The Trump Organization.
Having a quality brand is very much like having a good reputation. It’s important to consider that fact, even when you are just
starting out. Remember that everything you say and do is important. Actions matter.You are, literally, your own brand, whether
you have a business yet or not. If you are serious about what you’re
doing, taking responsibility for yourself starts now.
The Trump brand has to represent the highest quality available, no matter what the enterprise might be. If I build a golf
course, it has to the best. If I build a skyscraper, it has to be the
best. If I have a line of suits, they’d better be terrific. I am very
I
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thorough when it comes to certain things. Namely, everything.You’d
better be, too, if you hope to get somewhere worth going.
I remember when someone mentioned how impressed they
were that I would be so interested in trees when I was building a
golf course. I had made an effort to find the leading expert of this
particular type of tree and spent a lot of time researching them on
my own. But I was surprised they were impressed—to me it made
sense. You have to know the details yourself! Secondhand information will always be secondhand. Don’t be a secondhand person.
Go to the source yourself. That’s a start on the road to a great
brand, a great reputation, or both. No detail is too small, whether
it’s a tree or a faucet. One assistant remembers that I kept three
bathroom sinks on a couch in the office for months, asking everyone who came in which sink they liked best. To me, that kind of
attention is a component of a comprehensive level of excellence.
Some of my buildings have sold out before they are built.
Why? People recognize the brand name and know what they will
be getting—the best for their money. It’s not a risk on their part.
That’s the great thing about building a business based on quality
and integrity. It will sell itself. It doesn’t happen overnight—you
may have to work awhile to establish your reputation and brand—
but the consistency will be the standard to beat in your chosen
industry. I can tell you, it’s worth it. Whatever your interests are,
get started. As Henry Ford said, you can’t build a reputation (or a
brand) on what you are going to do.You have to put some action
into your plans, ideas, and dreams.
Most of us need letters of recommendation now and then. I
write them as well as receive them, and I always look for the words
“responsible, professional, and loyal.” If you can build your reputation on three words, those would be three at the top to choose
from. I also think of those words when it comes to the Trump
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sionalism, and loyalty—to my buyers, clients, students, readers,
audiences, and so forth. I’ll be the first to admit it’s not always easy.
I am responsible for a lot of people. But high standards are high
standards, and that’s what I stand for. I will not accept less from
myself.
To build the reputation you want to have, you will have to be
the same way. Being stubborn has its rewards. Getting to the top
and staying there is one of them. Start now, start today, start this
very minute.There’s a lot of competition out there, and they won’t
be waiting around for you.
Build your reputation on intelligence, responsibility, and results. That’s building the right way.
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Diligence is the mother of good luck.
—Benjamin Franklin
}
“The Harder I Work,
the Luckier I Get”
’ve always been big on quotes, whether they’re mine or someone else’s, because very often they distill ideas down to their
essence. What Ben Franklin said many years ago could have been
said today, because it’s relevant and right on.We’ve all heard about
doing our “due diligence,” which is another way of being thorough. It’s also the first step to bringing yourself some good luck.
What Gary Player, the great golfer, said—quoted above as the title
of this essay—remains solid nutshell advice that can apply to
everyone.
The mixed-use concept of hotel and condominiums has been
a huge success, starting with the first one I did in New York City
in the late 1990s, Trump International Hotel & Tower at 1 Central Park West. Since then I’ve built hotel towers in Chicago and
Las Vegas, with many more in the works around the world. Our
tower in Waikiki was sold out in five hours, which is a record. People ask me, “How can you do so much?” and I have to say it really
isn’t luck, but doing due diligence and applying common sense.
I
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This mixed-use concept was obviously a winner, so I developed
the idea further and then took it worldwide. The strategy has
worked, and we now have a Trump Hotel Collection that encompasses the world. I had always known the Trump brand would
go global—at the right time.
You can apply that to your own life, career, and business as well.
Look into the future a bit.Take the time to move yourself forward.
If the indications are there, put in the extra effort to make something good even better, or bigger, or both.That’s thinking big, and
I’m no stranger to that concept and you shouldn’t be either. I’ve
had enough success to know that it works.
The past few years of my life have been busier than they’ve
ever been. Everything has escalated, and it’s been demanding—
but exciting. But I’ve also been preparing for it for a long time.
I’m used to working hard, and therefore I’m used to expecting results. Some people call it luck, but like Ben Franklin said, diligence
has something to do with it, too.
For example, if you’ve been working toward something for
five years, I’d say you have a goal in mind.You’ve probably focused
on that goal. Hopefully, you’ve been diligent in pursuing it. If your
work pays off, which it most likely will, people might say you’re
just lucky. Maybe so, because you’re lucky enough to have the
brains to work hard!
When I’m writing a book, which seems to be most of the time
these days, I will spend up to seven or eight months putting together notes, collecting articles, dictating stories and ideas before
I even begin to actually put it all together. It’s a long process, and it
requires patience and perseverance to see it through to the finished product. I will admit that sometimes I wonder if it’s worth
it, because it’s not an easy endeavor. But when the book is done, it’s
a great feeling. It’s an accomplishment that has taken painstaking
time. People won’t see the work that goes into a book, but any174
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one who has written one will tell you that diligence is a must.
They don’t just materialize out of nowhere.
Recently, while working on one of my books, I spent some
time thinking about the “entitlement mentality” that seems to have
afflicted this country. I think we can take it back a few decades to
the emergence of what was called “instant gratification” as personified by the superstars and rock stars who emerged and made
tremendous amounts of money, which very much impressed young
people. Suddenly, everyone thought they should have what those
very few people had or that those people were “overnight” stars
and it should happen that way to them, too. In reality, it happens
to very few people and rarely does it happen “overnight” to anybody. Those are the exceptions to the rule, not the norm. But they
received so much media attention that people who had to struggle a bit or work for long years at something had the feeling they
were being left out or that they were being treated unequally.
They began to feel that the world owed them something.
Not everything works out as we might hope it will, and certain fields require a bigger dose of luck to succeed in than others,
but a very good way to pave your own way to success is simply to
work hard, to be diligent, and to look at what you have going for
you versus what you don’t have going for you—the old cup half
full versus half empty test. Here’s where I bring back my tried and
true theory that you have to think big—because if you’re diminishing your own prospects, then it’s not likely you will run into a
lot of luck. And part of doing your due diligence is to know what
you want for yourself, not what other people want for you—which
in many cases turns out to be not much! Take the time to move
yourself forward. In other words, think, work—and be lucky.
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Empty pockets never held anyone back.
Only empty heads and empty
hearts can do that.
—Norman Vincent Peale
}
How to Get Rich
wrote a book that came out in 2004 called How to Get Rich. I
can remember when I was discussing appropriate titles with the
editor, and we had a list of them. We kept going back and forth
with different ideas, with clever and catchy titles. I finally said,
“What everyone wants to know is how to get rich.Why don’t we
just call the book How to Get Rich?” To me, that was getting to the
point. I’d appreciate that as a reader, so that’s the title we chose.
Getting rich isn’t always simple. I have and will always continue to emphasize the importance of loving what you do first. If
your goal is just to make money, you are shortchanging yourself.
You might also run out of energy while you’re trying to make that
money. Passion is an incredible source of fuel that can get you
through the tough spells that are bound to come up. So the first
step in preparing to becoming rich is to find something that you
absolutely love doing.
Maybe you don’t know what you want to do yet.That’s fine—
just set your compass to finding out what it is, and there’s a good
I
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chance you’ll discover it. Meantime, learn everything you can
about as many subjects and businesses as you possibly can. Knowledge is never a waste of time. I had studied the entertainment business a bit when I was younger, even though I had decided to go
into real estate, and sure enough I ended up being in the entertainment business later in life. That was not wasted time, even
though I hadn’t consciously planned to enter that field. Now I
have a production company in Los Angeles, Trump Productions,
and we’re entering the eighth season of The Apprentice. Considering that the first Apprentice season started in January of 2004, NBC,
Mark Burnett, and I have had a very successful time of it.
It’s important for you to know something about this story. I
didn’t do The Apprentice for money. That was not my incentive.
I was initially paid next to nothing. Happily, it became a hit show,
and the result is that it gave publicity to my brand, which has garnered greater financial success for me than ever before.
Sometimes being too cautious is the greatest risk of all. Preparation and organization will help to downsize the element of risk
that is often involved in becoming rich. If you are well prepared
and have everything in order, you will have provided yourself with
a safety net. The best way to do that is to learn to be highly efficient. Highly efficient people keep their bases covered. Easier said
than done, but it’s a skill set that you can acquire for yourself.
Efficiency is the productive use of time. Learn to monitor
yourself and the amount of time you use to focus on any specific
thing. Having a time limit can be a terrific way to make your brain
work at its most effective pace. I remember reading about an order
of monks who have a determined amount of time for each duty,
then a bell rings and they stop and immediately go on to their next
chore. Creating and employing a discipline of focus is a good way
to avoid spending more time than necessary on any one thing. I
had an editor who, after a meeting with me in my office, com178
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mented that he needed oxygen. He wasn’t accustomed to the fast
pace he encountered, and I think he learned something about
economy of time.
In summing up, if you want to get rich, two important considerations are passion and efficiency: Have passion for what you
do and be efficient about it at the same time. That combination
has worked for me.
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Individual commitment to a group
effort—that is what makes a team work.
—Vincent Lombardi
}
Work with
People You Like
here’s a saying I remember that is appropriate for this subject: “If you’re going to live in the river, better make friends
with the crocodiles.” That being said, let’s proceed to this topic,
which hopefully will help to make your business life as reptilefree as possible.
I’ve been fortunate to work with people I like. Some of my
employees have been with me for twenty, twenty-five, even thirty
years. If we didn’t like each other, that would be a long-term sentence of misery. As it is, we work together well, we respect each
other, and we get a lot accomplished. Management becomes a
whole lot easier if you are careful when finding employees or
partners.
People I work well with have to work fast.That’s how I work,
and they follow suit. Allen Weisselberg, my CFO, Rhona Graff,
VP and my chief assistant, and Jeffrey McConney, my controller,
have the ability to distill a lot of information and can explain
T
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DONALD J. TRUMP
something to me with a minimum of words, sometimes ten words
or less. Considering how much I have to do every day, I appreciate this brevity. George Ross, Senior Counsel, Jason Greenblat,
General Counsel, and Matthew Calamari, my COO, have the
same ability. It’s not that I don’t enjoy talking with them on a personal level, but our agendas have to be attended to and by now
we all know how to get things done quickly, both individually
and as a team. The respect goes both ways, and it’s a great environment for everyone.
If you can get a core group around you that you like and who
understands your needs, you will be heading in the right direction.
Sometimes I think it’s divine intervention when the right people
show up, because as we all know, it happens that people who give
great interviews sometimes aren’t so great, and vice versa. In that
sense, every hire is a bit of a gamble. Solid gold credentials don’t
always mean solid gold people, but sometimes they do. You have
to give people a chance to prove themselves. But in the interim,
it helps a lot if you like having them around to begin with.
You will have to see beyond what is presented to you. Every
person has unique talents that may or may not be in their job description or listed on their resume. People are not one-dimensional.
I don’t like being underestimated or stereotyped, so it is safe for
me to assume that other people don’t like it either. I appreciate
being seen as something more than my public persona, and people who work for me know that although I may be demanding, I
am also fair. My door is always open, and they feel confident that
when they have something to say, I’ll be listening.
Someone recently wrote in to ask me how to manage people
who she didn’t like. My response was to ask her if she liked anything about any of the people she was attempting to manage. We
all have hidden potential, and a good manager will find it. A good
manager will also look for what he or she likes about the people
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around them. No one is perfect. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Your attitude toward others plays a big part in surrounding
yourself with the right people. If you don’t like the people around
you, you might start by taking a look at yourself first.
Most of us spend a great deal of our time at our jobs.That fact
alone makes it important to carefully assess what kind of people
we want to spend it with. What matters to you? What combination of personalities will make the day the most effective for everyone? An organization is ever evolving, as we are, and a good
balance is necessary for everyone. Does everyone understand,
clearly, what the common goal of the organization is? One reason
Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric have done such remarkable jobs is that
they understand—thoroughly—what our goals are and make significant and daily contributions to that end. They work together
effectively as a team and individually, which is the ideal representation for any organization.
Make an effort to make your working environment as pleasant and effective as possible. It’s not impossible—my organization
proves that it’s not impossible. Just set the example, and you’ll be
a magnet for the right people. That’s the best way to work with
people you like.
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Integrity is the essence of everything successful.
—Richard Buckminster Fuller
}
In Addition to Business:
What the Successful
Person Needs to Know
’ve recently encountered a situation that brought me back to
something I had learned a long time ago—that it’s not just business acumen but integrity that carries you forward in the business
world. It’s as simple as keeping your word or, in some cases, remembering what your words were. It seems that for some people,
simple isn’t always easy.
I came from the world of construction and real estate development, which is known for being demanding and difficult, but
it also requires precision.There can’t be anything haphazard in construction or people can be injured. “Happenstance” is not acceptable. I’ve applied that approach to everything I do.
I can remember when a visitor to my offices commented on
how many blueprints there were. He said, “Some people have
skeletons in their closets, but I can see that Trump has blueprints
in his.” Sometimes I think people forget that I’m a builder, a developer. That’s my core, and blueprints are important. It took me
I
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DONALD J. TRUMP
awhile to realize how valuable that background was in forming my
discipline as a businessman. It gave me a foundation from which
to operate and expand and a tendency toward thoroughness.
There’s integrity to building that cannot be compromised.
We’ve all seen the results of hastily constructed buildings in the
earthquakes and in other disasters around the world. I will not
jeopardize the safety and well-being of people, and if I’m known
to be a stickler for details, that is one of the reasons.
Our actions and words will eventually point us toward having
a reputation for having integrity or not having integrity. I’ve been
around long enough to know how valuable a commodity candor
can be. As a businessperson, it’s a strength that can see you through
everything.
Another important skill is negotiation. I receive many requests
asking me about my negotiation skills, and there’s a balance to successful negotiation that many people fail to see. The best negotiation is when both sides win.There’s a compromise involved, which
means careful listening, and when that is achieved you’ll see results that work. Business is an art in itself, and powerful negotiation skills are one of the techniques necessary to facilitate success.
I give a lot of speeches, and one thing I will always emphasize
is the importance of passion. If you don’t love what you’re doing,
your margin for success is significantly reduced, and tough times
will be much tougher to get through. Passion gives a resiliency that
is necessary to achieve great things. Michelangelo is remembered
in our time more than any pope or politician of his time simply
because he gave the world so much—and against great odds.That
guy was intransigent. There is no doubt that he was passionate
about what he was doing.When things seem difficult, it’s good to
remind yourself of someone like that, someone who kept the
integrity of his art first and foremost in his mind and actions.
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The second point I will bring up when it comes to success is
that you cannot give up.You have to keep going and moving forward, no matter what is happening around you or to you. It’s a
form of positive thinking that is very powerful. A word that comes
to mind as a result of this approach is “indomitable.” I overcame
some great setbacks just by being obstinate. I refused to give in or
give up. To me, that’s an integrity of purpose that cannot be defeated or interfered with to any significant level. Being steadfast in
your intentions can reap great results.
The other word I like to think of along with indomitable is
“tenacious.” In a way, they are almost interchangeable when it
comes to business. Being tenacious will make you indomitable in
the long run. The old tortoise versus the hare story still prevails.
With today’s globalization, I will emphasize the importance of
paying attention to global events.The United States cannot be isolationist. We may be the super power, but what that really means
is that we have more responsibility. Our position requires us to be
more alert, more careful, and more empathetic than ever. Power is
at its best when it’s used in the most compassionate way possible.
When it comes to business success, it is equally important
to know that success carries the same sort of responsibility. Always
know that you can be topped and that you can be toppled over.
Keeping that in mind will guarantee that you are in your best form
for competition. Even if you are currently the top gun, pretend
that you are the underdog. It will improve your insight as well as
your vision.
Intrinsic value is a value that has been overlooked in today’s
marketplace. Everything has a dollar value, and it becomes very
black and white. That is necessary in business. We live in a tangible world with tangible needs. But I will say that I often look for
the obscure, the gray area that implies a mystery or a value that is
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more than money alone can carry. I think most people will know
what this is—something that is beyond monetary value. I read a
story about an art collector who had amassed a fortune in art, but
his prized possession was a painting of his deceased son done by a
friend of his son’s. This painting was hung next to works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, and Miró. But it mattered most to the art
collector. Its intrinsic value far surpassed the millions represented
by the masters.When the collector died, he bequeathed his entire
collection to the person who bought the painting of his son, which
sold for $10.
I mention intrinsic value because as a businessman, it’s something that gives integrity and even mystery to everyday business.
Not everything is dollars and cents, although in many cases it has
to be. Look for the gray areas—it will enhance your life as well as
your business sense.
As a businessman, I have realized that “to whom much is given,
much is expected.” See yourself as having a lot already, and keep
your integrity intact. It’s the best way to pave your way to a comprehensive success.
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DONALD J. TRUMP’S
RECOMMENDED
READING
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu
This is a classic book about military strategy written during the
sixth century BC.
The Cashflow Quadrant
by Robert Kiyosaki
and Sharon Lechter
This is about working smart and is a good, clear guide to help you
move toward financial freedom.
The Power of Positive Thinking
by Norman Vincent Peale
This book was published in 1952 and contains useful concepts to
enable successful behavior. I’m a cautious optimist but being optimistic is important to be effective.
The Golden Ratio
by Mario Livio
“The story of phi, the world’s most astonishing number.” This is
fascinating whether or not you are a math whiz.
189
DONALD J. TRUMP’S RECOMMENDED READING
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Goodwin reveals just how brilliant Lincoln was, with a political
spin that has historical as well as contemporary interest.
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill
by William Manchester
This is Manchester’s second volume on Churchill. It gives a great
insight into Churchill as well as World War II.
No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt:
The Home Front in World War II
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This book brings to life a most interesting and pivotal time in U.S.
history side by side with the Roosevelts.
Ideas and Opinions
by Albert Einstein
Einstein was not just a scientist, but a great mind at work on many
topics, which are covered here.
Essays and Lectures
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson’s writing is lucid and thought provoking, and he provides
a balance of thought that can be edifying.
190
INDEX
Achievers
habits and results, 143–145
higher self and, 27–29
results, 143–145
traits of, 94
See also Success
Adaptation, 23, 24–25
See also Flexibility
Aesop, 105
Apprentice,The
as challenge, 110, 148–149
description/tasks, 19–20,
36, 63, 105–106, 122, 123
experience and, 139–140
positive thinking and, 140
success and, 89, 178
team spirit and, 11–12,
66–67
Aristotle, 39, 40, 132, 143, 144
Art
life as performance art, 157,
158–159
work as, 8, 27–28, 43–45
Art of the Deal,The (Trump),
8, 44
Art of War,The (Sun Tzu), 33
Artists
attributes of, 43–44
See also specific artists
Audience
common denominators
and, 157–158
knowing, 157–159
Barrack, Tom, 161–168
BBC, 114
Beethoven, Ludwig van,
43–44, 102
Bell, Alexander Graham, 41
Bellino, Ricardo, 61–62
“Big picture,” 23, 24–25, 56,
58, 101–103
Biorhythms, 69–70
Blaming others, 66
Brand name
building, 31–32, 169–171,
174
importance of, 31–32, 78,
122, 174
See also Power of a name;
Trump name
Brave New World (Huxley), 48
191
INDEX
Brokaw, Tom, 11–12
Buck, Pearl S., 35
Buffet, Warren, 145
Building. See Developing/
building
Burnett, Mark, 28, 58, 148,
155, 178
Bush, George W., 1
Conversation economizing,
61–63
Creativity
business and, 60, 84
going against the tide,
135–137
See also Art; Artists
Cross training your brain, 59
Curiosity, 94, 131
Calamari, Matthew, 182
Campbell, Joseph, 113
Camus, Albert, 27
Carter, Dominic, 1
Cashflow Quadrant (Kiyosaki),
85
Cavuto, Neal, 82, 83
Challenges
dealing with, 94
effects of, 19
significance of, 27, 110
The Apprentice as, 110,
148–149
Champions
attributes of, 39, 40–41
thinking like, 39–41
Chanel, 78
Churchill, Winston, 32, 58,
102, 103
Clear Channel, 29
Comfort zone, 27, 136, 141
Commercials, 123–124
Common denominators,
157–158
Confucius, 61, 97, 99
Control, 65–66, 132
Da Vinci, Leonardo, 28, 132
Darwin, Charles, 23
De Gaulle, Charles, 136
Deadlines, 62
Deficit of U.S., 2
Demographics, 4
Dempsey, Jack, 39
Developing/building
background work, 20, 21,
44
golf courses, 15, 37, 59,
113–115, 141, 156, 170
learning and, 15, 16–17
mixed-use condominium/
hotel concept, 7, 8,
173–174
See also specific developments
Economizing conversations,
61–63
Education. See Learning
Efficiency, 178–179
Ego, 78
Einstein, Albert, 23, 109, 111,
131, 132, 133, 147
192
INDEX
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 3, 51,
93, 94, 110, 147, 148, 151
Emmy Awards, 124
Employees
getting the best, 105–107
people you like, 181–183
“Entitlement mentality,” 175
Environment and heredity,
58–59
Ethics, 33
Experience, 31, 32, 34
Geomorphology, 114
Globalization/global events,
48, 174, 187
Goals
achievement, 40–41
importance, 20
Golden ratio, 8–9
Golden Ratio,The (Livio), 8
Goldwyn, Samuel, 121
Golf, 40
Golf courses
developing/building, 15,
37, 59, 113–115, 141,
156, 170
Scotland, 37, 113–115
Trump National Golf Club,
Briarcliff Manor, New
York, 141
Gould, Glenn, 98
Graff, Rhona, 181
Grand Hyatt Hotel, Grand
Central, 75
Greeks, a motto of, 84
Greenblatt, Jason, 182
Gumbel, Bryant, 114
Gut instincts, 28, 32, 82,
155–156
Failure, 28–29
Fears
of being unique, 44
confronting, 51–53
of failure, 28–29
of winning, 40
Federer, Roger, 58
Financial literacy, 85–87
Financial Times, 16
Financial Times (UK), 131
Fischer, Bobby, 109
Flexibility, 89–91, 102–103
See also Adaptation
Focus, 8, 67, 74, 178
Forbes, Malcolm, 81
Ford, Henry, 11, 65, 67, 169,
170
Franklin, Benjamin, 173, 174
Fuller, Richard Buckminster,
185
Habits and results, 143–145
Hamilton, Laird, 163–168
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 89
HBO, 114
Heredity and environment,
58–59
Higher self, 27–29
Gates, Bill, 28, 58
Gelb, Peter, 60
193
INDEX
History, 35–37
Hollywood Walk of Fame, 57
Horowitz,Vladimir, 98
How to Get Rich (Trump),
158, 177
Hugo,Victor, 7
Humor, 123–125
Huxley, Aldous, 47, 48, 50
King Lear (Shakespeare), 107
Kiyosaki, Robert, 55, 81, 85,
86
Know-it-all, 15–16, 37, 50,
95, 122, 132
Knowledge
breadth, 47–50, 178
connected thoughts,
47–50
financial literacy, 85–87
importance of, 95, 178
wisdom and, 31, 32, 33–34
See also Learning
Imagination, 55–56
Information and preparation,
48, 131–132
Innovation, 7–9
“Inside City Hall,” 1
“Instant gratification,” 175
Instincts, 28, 32, 82, 155–156
“Integrate Education”
(Huxley), 48
Integrity, 12, 31–32, 33, 144,
185–188
Intrinsic values, 36, 122, 148,
187–188
Investing, 161–168
Irving, Washington, 135
Lagerfeld, Karl, 78
Leach, Mike, 153
Leaders
characteristics of, 21
seeing yourself as, 21
Learning
boredom and, 16, 17
continuing, 35–37
control and, 132
history, 35–37
importance, 15–17, 32–34
from setbacks/mistakes,
73–75
See also Knowledge
Lickle, Brock, 164–166
Lincoln, Abraham, 32, 47, 50
Livio, Mario, 8
Lombardi,Vincent, 181
Luck
believing in, 59–60
work and, 173–175
Jean Georges Restaurant, 77
John, Elton, 78
Johnson, Samuel, 139
Jones, Bobby, 40
Journalistic approach,
144–145
Jung, Carl, 51, 155
King, Billie Jean, 40
King, Stephen, 3–5
194
INDEX
MacArthur, Douglas, 33
Machiavelli, Niccolò, 33
Madoff, Bernard, 161–163
McCain, John, 1
McConney, Jeffrey, 181
McMahon,Vince, 124
Messing, Debra, 12
Metropolitan Opera, 60
Michelangelo, 98, 102, 186
Mistakes/setbacks, 73–75
Mixed-use
condominium/hotel
concept, 7, 8, 173–174
Momentum, 69–71, 74, 78,
117, 118–119
Mona Lisa (da Vinci), 28
Moving on, 97–99
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus,
25, 58
Mullally, Megan, 124
Multilevel focusing, 8
Multitasking, 56
Muschamp, Herbert, 5
New York Times, 5, 81, 131
New York Times Book Review,
3
Newsweek ad, 70–71
9/11 attacks/aftermath, 2,
65–66, 83
Nobel Prize for literature
(2006), 81–82
O. Henry Prize, 3
Obama, Barack, 1–2
Oil price, 84
Onassis, Aristotle, 77
“Overnight success,” 17, 60,
62, 139, 145, 175
Pamuk, Orhan, 81–82
Passion and work, 25, 29, 59,
73, 86, 156, 177, 179, 186
Pavarotti, Luciano, 78
Peale, Norman Vincent, 177
Persistence/perseverance, 43,
57, 90–91, 111, 113–115,
139, 140–141, 174–175,
187
Phasing (music), 7–8
Phi, 8–9
Picasso, Pablo, 28, 43, 44
Player, Gary, 173
Pontifex, 48
Positive thinking, 139–141,
151, 187
Power of a name, 77–79
See also Brand name;
Trump name
Name. See Brand name;
Power of a name
Napoleon Bonaparte, 19, 21
Natural talents, 57–60
Nature’s power, 33
NBC, 11–12, 178
Negativity, 28
Negotiation skills, 44, 62, 69,
128, 157–158, 186
New York 1 program, 1
New York Post, 131
195
INDEX
Preparation/being prepared
background work, 20, 21,
44
description, 65, 135–136
flexibility and, 89–91,
102–103
information, 48, 131–132
mistakes and, 74
Prescience, 81–82
Prince,The (Machiavelli), 33
Problems
dealing with, 109–111
solving, 52, 53, 65–67,
109–111
Prodigies, 58
Purpose
definition, 148
discovering your purpose,
147–149
Pythagoras, 15
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 157
Rosh Hashanah, 13
Ross, George, 182
Roth, Philip, 81
Saturday Night Live, 12, 124
“Scenario” test, 97
Schweitzer, Albert, 13
Scottish National Heritage,
114
Sense of humor, 123–125
September 11
attacks/aftermath, 2,
65–66, 83
Setbacks/mistakes, 73–75
Shakespeare, 49, 107
“Shock market” (2008), 82,
83–84, 85–86, 87
Short stories/writers, 3–5
Sisyphus, 74
Socrates, 16, 69, 71
Standards
importance of, 4, 24,
44–45, 98, 135, 136–137,
144, 148, 151–153, 170,
171
setting, 151–153
Steinbrenner, George, 11
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 57
Stock market. See “Shock
market” (2008)
Stravinsky, Igor, 28
Success
business as impersonal,
127–129
Quixote, Don, 28
Rabbi from Los Angeles/
family, 13–14
Rand, Ayn, 85
Reich, Steve, 7–8
Republican Party, 1
Reputation, 169–171, 186
See also Brand name
Rich Dad Poor Dad
(Kiyosaki), 85
Romeo and Juliet
(Shakespeare), 49
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1
196
INDEX
future success and, 93–95,
121–122
how to get rich, 177–179
“overnight success,” 17, 60,
62, 139, 145, 175
working with people you
like, 181–183
See also Achievers
Sun Tzu, 33
Survival of the fittest, 23
Trump, Donald J.
jet use for ill child, 13–14
quote, 73
Scottish heritage, 37, 113,
115
Trump, Eric (son), 122, 169,
183
Trump, Fred C. (father),
31–32, 58–59, 103, 135,
152
Trump, Ivanka (daughter),
122, 169, 183
Trump, Mary McLeod
(mother), 37, 113, 115
Trump Hotel Collection,
122, 174
Trump International Golf
Links Scotland, 115
Trump International Hotel &
Tower, New York City, 7,
173
Trump Jr., Donald (son), 122,
169, 183
Trump name, 4, 31–32,
49, 122, 169–171, 174,
178
Trump National Golf Club,
Briarcliff Manor, New
York, 141
Trump Organization, The, 24,
122, 140, 151
Trump Place, 60, 122
Trump Productions, 178
Trump Tower, 44, 45, 52, 81,
121, 123, 127, 152
Target markets, 3–5
Team player/spirit, 11–12,
66–67
Tempo of work, 24–25,
117–119, 178–179,
181–182
Thanks/thanksgiving, 13–14
Think Big credo, 17
Think Like a Billionaire
(Trump), 61–62
Thinking
“big picture,” 23, 24–25,
56, 58, 101–103
importance, 17, 19–21
like a genius, 131–133
positive thinking, 139–141,
151, 187
on your feet, 19–21
Thinking big, 17, 55–56, 151,
152–153, 174, 175
Thoreau, Henry David,
20–21, 101, 103
Time magazine, 48
Transparency, 55, 56
197
INDEX
Trump World Tower,
United Nations Plaza,
121–122
Twain, Mark, 77, 79, 83
Values
intrinsic values, 36, 122,
148, 187–188
types, 36
Visa commercial, 123–124
Visionaries, 28
Visualization, 49, 55–56, 132,
133
Warhol, Andy, 57, 86, 127
Weisselberg, Allen, 182
Wharton School of Business,
55, 57
Wholeness, 23–25
Why We Want You To Be Rich
(Trump and Kiyosaki),
81, 85
Wilde, Oscar, 31, 123
Will and Grace, 12
Wisdom, 31–34, 97
Wollman Rink, Central Park,
152
Woods, Tiger, 58, 140
Work hours, 24
Wrestlemania, 124
Wall Street Journal, 131
War, 33
“Zone, the,” 69, 118
Zucker, Jeff, 12
United States, deficit of, 2
Updike, John, 81
198
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The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received
Trump 101:The Way to Success
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